The Congress government in Himachal Pradesh passed the Budget for 2024-2025 in the State Assembly on February 28, after suspending 15 BJP lawmakers, including Leader of Opposition Jairam Thakur, surviving a potential no confidence scenario. The Budget Session was adjourned sine die shortly thereafter, a day ahead of schedule.
Meanwhile, Speaker Kuldeep Pathania reserved his order on a motion to disqualify six Congress MLAs who were absent for the Budget vote. Today, it was announced that they had been disqualified.
Minister Vikramditya Singh announced his resignation and withdrew it within hours, shining light on the current leadership struggle in the party. Mr Singh is the son of former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee chief Pratibha Singh.
The party sent out mixed signals. While Chief Minister Sukhivinder Sukhu struck a conciliatory note in Shimla, saying “Vikramaditya is like my younger brother,” in Delhi, the party said that it was weighing all options.
Jairam Ramesh, Congress communications head, asserted that the party would not hesitate to take tough actions to save its government and protect the mandate of the people of Himachal Pradesh.
The current political crisis arose on February 27, after Congress nominee Abhishek Singhvi lost the election for the State’s sole Rajya Sabha seat to Bharatiya Janata Party nominee Harsh Mahajan, after six Congress MLAs voted in favour of the BJP.
Aiming to control the damage, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has sent Bhupesh Baghel, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, and D.K. Shivakumar as the All India Congress Committee’s (AICC) observers. They are expected to file a report after talking to party MLAs and hearing their grievances.
Mr. Kharge is said to have also spoken to former party chief Rahul Gandhi and party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on the current issue in Himachal Pradesh.
Addressing the press in Shimla, the Chief Minister said that the Budget had been passed by the Assembly and asserted that the government would complete its term since the conspiracy to topple it had been foiled. Dismissing reports that he had resigned as Chief Minister, Mr. Sukhu shared that a motion had been brought to disqualify the six Congress MLAs who had cross-voted in favour of the BJP in the Rajya Sabha polls, by being absent during the cut motion during the passing of the Budget in the Assembly.
As the Assembly devolved into chaos on Tuesday, the speaker suspended 15 of 25 BJP MLAs in the Assembly; the remaining 10 staged a walkout. The Budget was passed by voice vote in the absence of any Opposition members.
Had the Budget failed to pass, the government would have lost the confidence of the House. Mr. Thakur alleged that this was the reason that they suspended 15 MLAs “without any reason,” as they had to reduce the number of BJP MLAs.
In an address to press at the AICC headquarters in Delhi, Mr. Ramesh accused the BJP of attempting “Operation Lotus” to dislodge the Congress government in Himachal Pradesh. Party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, one of Congress’ main campaigners in the State Assembly polls in December 2022, said that the BJP was aiming to push Himachal Pradesh into a political disaster, after failing to stand with the State when it was struck by a national disaster.
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