The battle of nerves between the ruling Congress and the BJP continues in Himachal Pradesh with the Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu Government getting another lease of life and stability after the acceptance of resignations of three Independent MLAs, who had cross-voted in the Rajya Sabha polls.
The decision of Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania of accepting the resignations of Independent MLAs K L Thakur (Nalagarh), Hoshiyar Singh (Dehra) and Ashish Sharma (Hamirpur) comes a day ahead of results of the bye-elections to six assembly constituencies on June 4.
Congress currently has 34 MLAs in its favour and the BJP has 25 in the Himachal Assembly whose strength has come down to 59 now. Six Congress MLAs were disqualified earlier and the resignations of three independent MLAs were accepted on Monday creating three more vacancies in the 68-member House.
Once the results are out on Tuesday, the strength of the Himachal Assembly will rise to 65, but since its strength is 34 it will remain in majority irrespective of the outcome of the bypolls. Two sitting MLAs Vikramaditya Singh and Vinod Sultanpuri are also contesting the Lok Sabha elections from Mandi and Shimla constituencies and their victory may usher in fresh bye-elections in their constituencies of Shimla Rural and Kasauli.
There has been a tussle for power in the hill state of Himachal Pradesh ever since the BJP won the Rajya Sabha election after six Congress and three Independent MLAs switched sides and cross-voted in favour of BJP candidate Harsh Mahajan.
Ever since its victory in Rajya Sabha election, the BJP has been sniffing an opportunity and a change of government after some Congress MLAs have switched sides.
“By accepting the resignations of three independent MLAs, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has ensured that his government will survive for another few months. The decision comes as a reprieve for the Congress,” a senior BJP leader said.
Himachal Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri, however, accused the BJP of making all out efforts to destabilise the state government, which has just emerged out of the crisis created by last year’s heavy rains during the monsoons that caused widespread devastation and loss of lives.
Meanwhile, the Himachal Pradesh High Court has also reserved its order on a petition filed by BJP leader Satpal Singh Satti and 11 other BJP MLAs against the appointment of six Congress MLAs as chief parliamentary secretaries by the Sukhu government.
