CHANDIGARH: The political crisis in Himachal Pradesh has further deepened, as the state police registered a case against an independent MLA and the father of a Congress rebel lawmaker over 'electoral offences’ related to the recent Rajya Sabha elections in which six MLAs cross-voted for the BJP candidate.
Sources said that the case criminal conspiracy, corruption practices and undue influence on election against Ashish Sharma independent MLA from Hamirpur and Gagret's now disqualified MLA Chetanya Sharma's father was registered at Boileauganj police station based on a complaint lodged by Congress MLAs Sanjay Awasthi and Bhuvneshwar Gaur.
Both lawmakers filed a complaint with the police seeking an investigation into electoral offences, corrupt practices and criminal conspiracy in the whole sequence of events since the Rajya Sabha polls held on February 27. But the alleged role of Chetanya's father, a retired bureaucrat, is not known yet.
Meanwhile, the two Congress legislators sought investigation on charges of money trading, misuse of helicopter and security forces and criminal misconduct and said direct evidence is available that the BJP is paying for the transportation through choppers and accommodation in five star properties in Haryana and Uttarakhand.
They said there is enough evidence of the BJP MLAs accompanying the Congress rebels MLAs and independents and cited the Supreme Court's recent ruling in Sita Soren vs Union of India Case in the complaint.
Confirming that a case has been registered, Superintendent of Police of Shimla Sanjeev Kumar Gandhi said that a case under sections 171 a and c (undue influence on elections) and 120 b (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC and sections 7 and 8 (public servant taking undue advantage) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, has been registered and investigations have been started.
This development has not gone well with the rebel congress MLAs.
"Pressure tactics will not help, with this attitude, CM Sukhu should be ready to face the consequences in future. If the CM thinks that he could win hearts by registering false complaints he is mistaken. This kind of politics compelled the MLAs to vote in favour of the BJP,’’ said Rajinder Rana rebel congress lawmaker and added that a lot of pressure is being put on them to return to the Congress fold.
In a joint statement issued the legislators said they are fighting a battle of self-respect and questioned the mindset of the CM who is approaching them for compromise on the one hand and issuing statements like black snakes and shepherds for them on the other hand.
Apart from the six MLAs who cross-voted, three independent legislators had also voted in favour of BJP nominee Harsh Mahajan. This triggered a crisis in the state's Congress government, which appeared to have lost its majority in the assembly.
The six Congress MLAs namely Sudhir Sharma, Ravi Thakur, Rajinder Rana, Inder Dutt Lakhanpal, Chetanya Sharma and Devinder Kumar Bhutto and three independents include Ashish Sharma, Hoshiyar Singh and K L Thakur are now campaigning at a five-star resort at Rishikesh in Uttarakhand.
While addressing a huge public gathering at the old bus stand at Solan, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said, "We are not afraid of political challenges. We will face every challenge with determination and will realize the vision of self-reliant Himachal by the year 2032.’’
He stated that while the focus of the State Government was entirely on taking Himachal forward on the path of sustainable growth, the BJP has centered itself in adopting unfair and un-democratic means to weaken the democratic processes of the state.
Some well-known elements were using hard-earned money of taxpayers and evil forces to topple democratically elected governments.
Sukhu added that the state government has set a target of making Himachal self-reliant and was working tirelessly by implementing policies which will aid in achieving the target.
He added that despite the limited economic resources, the state government faced last year's natural disaster with full strength and provided Rs. 4,500 crore Special Relief Package to the affected.
The state didn't receive a penny in aid from the Centre, yet all possible assistance was provided to the affected families.