15 BJP MLAs suspended from Himachal Pradesh Assembly
Himachal Pradesh Assembly Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania has suspended 15 Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs, including Leader of Opposition Jairam Thakur, for alleged misconduct and shouting slogans in the House. The other 14 suspended BJP MLAs include Vipin Singh Parmar, Randheer Sharma, Lokender Kumar, Vinod Kumar, Hans Raj, Janak Raj, and Inder Singh Gandhi, among others. The suspended MLAs were demanding a floor test after the ruling Congress lost the lone Rajya Sabha seat in the hill state on Tuesday.
Why does this story matter?
The Rajya Sabha election was a disaster for the ruling Congress due to cross-voting by some of its members. Now, the Congress party is in a frenzy to keep its members together in order to avert the potential downfall of its government. The BJP, on the other hand, is demanding the resignation of Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, saying he has lost the mandate to rule.
Harshwardhan Chauhan proposed their removal
The speaker suspended the BJP legislators after State Parliamentary Party Affairs Minister Harshwardhan Chauhan proposed their removal from the House. Their suspension was followed by the resignation of Congress politician Vikramaditya Singh as public works minister. The BJP, meanwhile, has dubbed the suspension a plot by the Congress to prevent its government from falling apart ahead of the budget session. "Congress government is toppling. These are delay tactics and are followed in every Vidhan Sabha," BJP MLA Harsh Mahajan said.
House was adjourned till 12 noon
Mahajan defeated Congress's Abhishek Manu Singhvi in RS election
Mahajan defeated Congress stalwart Abhishek Manu Singhvi in the Rajya Sabha election on Tuesday due to cross-voting by MLAs of the state's ruling Congress party. The victory of Mahajan, with the support of six Congress MLAs and three independents who previously backed the government, has left Chief Minister Sukhu on uncertain ground. To address the issues, Congress has appointed DK Shivakumar and Bhupinder Singh Hooda to address the ongoing crisis of cross voting in Himachal Pradesh.
Shivakumar expressed confidence that Congress legislators would remain loyal
Shivakumar, known as a "troubleshooter," expressed confidence that all Congress legislators would remain loyal to the party. "It is not right...this type of horse-trading, someday it might boomerang...I am confident that all our legislators will be loyal," he said. In addition to Himachal, the BJP also secured a win in Uttar Pradesh, while the Congress won in Karnataka in Tuesday's Rajya Sabha elections. Overall, the BJP won 10 seats, the Congress won three, and the Samajwadi Party (SP) won two.
