Following six Congress legislators cross-voting during the Rajya Sabha elections, rebel Himachal Pradesh Congress MLA Rajinder Rana on Saturday claimed that nine more party legislators “feeling suffocated” by Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu’s style of functioning and were in touch with them.
All the six Congress MLAs, including Rana, who cross-voted, have been disqualified from the Assembly for abstaining from voting on the cut motion and finance bill.
In an exclusive interview to PTI-Videos, Rana alleged that CM Sukhu’s “friends” were running the state government. He claimed that the elected representatives, especially the ministers, were feeling “suffocated and humiliated”.
“Besides the six Congress and three independent legislators that cross-voted in favour of the BJP in the Rajya Sabha polls, nine more party MLAs are in touch with us,” he said.
Referring to Sukhu as “liar number one,” Rana accused him of distorting the truth. He refuted claims that Public Works Department Minister Vikramaditya Singh had been instructed by the chief minister to meet Congress rebels in Panchkula.
“Vikramaditya Singh, who met us on his way to Delhi, did not ask us to patch up. He has his own grievances against the government which failed to provide land for installing Virbhadra Singh’s statue and interfered in his functioning,” he added.
On Friday, Sukhu asserted that Vikramaditya Singh had informed him about certain Congress rebels expressing interest in returning to the party fold. Consequently, the PWD minister was instructed to engage with the rebel MLAs and the central leadership of the Congress.
Rana, however, firmly ruled out any possibility of reconciliation with the Congress, saying, “With the observers confirming Sukhu’s continuation as CM, there’s no room for negotiation.”
He added, “None of the rebel MLAs intend to return. Working alongside a CM who has stalled Himachal Pradesh’s progress is out of the question, and we’ve communicated this stance to the observers who reached out to us over the phone.”
In a remarkable upset for the ruling Congress in Himachal Pradesh, the BJP secured victory in the state’s sole Rajya Sabha seat on Tuesday, despite being in the minority with just 25 MLAs.
In defense of the cross-voting during the Rajya Sabha polls, Rana explained, “We were deeply disappointed by the nomination of Abhishek Manu Singhvi, an outsider, neglecting senior Congress leaders such as Asha Kumari, Ram Lal Thakur, and Kaul Singh, all of whom had also emerged victorious in the assembly polls.”
“We cross-voted to uphold the self-respect and interests of Himachal Pradesh… We would rather abstain from participation than endure humiliation,” he asserted.