CHANDIGARH: War clouds hovering over Himachal Pradesh dissipated a bit amid high drama on Wednesday as the Sukhu government passed the state budget after Speaker Kuldeep Pathania suspended 15 protesting BJP members. The assembly was later adjourned sine die. The government was in turmoil after six Congress members cross-voted for the BJP in the Rajya Sabha elections the previous day.
There was further anxiety as PWD minister Vikramaditya Singh, son of former chief minister Virbhadra Singh, put in his papers in the morning saying he was humiliated by the state leadership. By the evening, he softened and said he will not press his resignation.
The six rebels — Rajinder Rana, Sudhir Sharma, Ravi Thakur, Inder Dutt lakhanpal, Chetanya Sharma, and Divender Kumar — appeared before the Speaker as part of the disqualification proceedings. They left for Panchkula from Shimla before central Congress observers — Bhupesh Baghel, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, and D K Shivakumar — reached the state capital. The rebels and three Independents, who supported the BJP in the RS polls, attended the House but abstained from voting on the budget on Wednesday.
Speaker reserves his order
Speaker Kuldeep Pathania reserved his orders after hearing the six rebel MLAs. Their advocate argued that they were given the show-cause notice and the copy of the petition but not the annexures. He added that MLAs must be given seven days to file their replies. He claimed that party whip does not apply for RS polls