Rajya Sabha elections in the three states, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh were held on Tuesday and the results were declared in the evening. A total of 15 seats were available in the three states, 10 in UP, 4 in Karnataka, 4 in Pn and one seat in Himachal Pradesh.
Out of the 56 Upper House seats contested today, 41 members have secured their positions in the upper house without facing opposition.
Himachal Pradesh: Cross – Voting
Despite the majority of MLAs being from Congress, the BJP won the only Rajya Sabha seat in Himachal Pradesh, with its candidate Harsh Mahajan defeating Congress’s Abhishek Manu Singhvi due to cross-voting by six MLAs of the ruling Congress.
Himachal Pradesh sees a close conflict between Congress and the opposition BJP over a lone Rajya Sabha seat that faced cross-voting by Congress MLAs. Six Congress MLAs cross-voted in favor of the BJP in the Rajya Sabha election.
Fifteen BJP MLAs have been expelled from the assembly for shouting slogans that are alleged misconduct. As the Budget session of the assembly was about to start, the BJP MLAs shouted slogans inside the chamber of the speaker, Kuldeep Singh Pathania.
The expelled BJP MLAs are Jairam Thakur, Vipin Singh Parmar, Randheer Sharma, Lokender Kumar, Vinod Kumar, Hans Raj, Janak Raj, Balbir Verma, Trilok Jamwal, Surender Shori, Deep Raj, Puran Thakur, Inder Singh Gandhi, Dileep Thakur, and Inder Singh Gandhi.
The decision of Himachal Pradesh minister Vikramaditya Singh to resign also brought to the fore cracks in the party, which is now scrambling to keep its flock intact to prevent the fall of its government.
The Himachal Pradesh BJP has already sought the intervention of Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla to bring the crisis in the state’s ruling party to a conclusive end.
The Congress has 40 MLAs, and the BJP has 25 in the 68-member assembly. The remaining three seats are held by independents.
Statements from Politicians
Earlier, Jairam Thakur raised concerns about being expelled. “We are apprehensive that Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania might suspend the BJP MLAs so that the budget can be passed in the Vidhan Sabha,” Mr. Thakur told reporters, news agency PTI reported.
Mr. Thakur said the Rajya Sabha election made it clear the Congress government was in the minority and demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu. However, Sukhu denied his resignation and said the party would fight it out and would last the whole five-year term.
Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu alleged that several MLAs were being “kidnapped” by the CRPF and Haryana Police, as five to six MLAs were seen reaching Panchkula.
Conflict Within the Virbhadra Family
A conflict has persisted within the Himachal Congress for a while. A sad storm covered the Virbhadra Singh family because of the appointment of Sukhwinder Sukhu as CM of the state.
Following the 2022 assembly election outcome, the state witnessed a surge of drama. Protests erupted among Pratibha’s supporters upon hearing rumors suggesting she might not secure the chief ministerial position, sparking speculations about internal party divisions. However, Sukhu’s advantage in having more MLA support facilitated the Gandhi family’s decision in favor of appointing him as the chief minister.
Sukhu’s allegiance to the Gandhi family played a role in his promotion, but his background as an organizational figure, balanced party interests with public concerns, further proved his candidacy. His reputation as a clean politician also contributed to his selection.
The decision of Himachal Pradesh minister Vikramaditya Singh to resign also brought to the fore cracks in the party, which is now scrambling to keep its flock intact to prevent the fall of its government. He is an MLA from Shimla Rural.
Vikramaditya Singh, son of ex-CM Virbhadra Singh, attended the Ram Mandir inauguration ceremony, defying the Congress party.
Many veteran MLAs were not given their posts as ministers, thus causing a rebellion. While loyal to Congress, Rajendra Rana was deprived of the position. Singhvi (an outsider) was made one of the candidates. Harish Mahajan, a confidante and advisor of Virbhadra Singh, was given the candidacy for BJP.
