As the Congress government in Himachal Pradesh faces a risk of collapse, the Congress on Wednesday said the BJP cannot take away the mandate of the people of Himachal Pradesh through its ‘Operation Lotus’, adding that the party won’t hesitate to take tough decisions should there be a need.
Addressing reporters in New Delhi, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said today that party president Mallikarjun Kharge has despatched three observers — DK Shivakumar, Bhupesh Baghel and Bhupinder Singh Hooda — to Shimla, and asked them and AICC in-charge for the state Rajeev Shukla to speak to all MLAs, including the disgruntled ones, and submit a comprehensive report to him as soon as possible.
“The Congress will not hesitate to take some tough steps as the party is our priority and will not let the people’s mandate be betrayed in Himachal Pradesh,” Ramesh told reporters.
“We cannot lose the people’s mandate through BJP’s ‘Operation Lotus’ as only people can take it back,” Ramesh asserted, adding that the BJP has done so earlier in Madhya Pradesh, Goa and Maharashtra.
The Congress leader also said accountability will also be fixed for cross-voting in the Rajya Sabha election in the state. “Individual’s interests are not important as the party is supreme,” Ramesh said, adding that the people’s mandate needs to be respected.
Calling the cross-voting “unfortunate”, Ramesh said that the party observers will address this matter in their report.
“However, our immediate focus is on safeguarding our Congress government, as the party obtained a decisive mandate in December 2022. The residents of Himachal Pradesh expressly rejected the Prime Minister, Jagat Prakash Nadda, Anurag Thakur, and Jairam Thakur. The mandate unequivocally favoured the Congress party. Therefore, it is imperative to honour this mandate. The Modi government’s sole agenda seems to be toppling all Congress-led governments. We are determined to prevent such actions from occurring.”
The political crisis in Himachal Pradesh started on Tuesday after six Congress MLAs voted in favour of the BJP candidate Harsh Mahajan in the Rajya Sabha election in the state, reportedly “disappointed” with the working style of Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu. This led to the defeat of Congress stalwart Abhishek Singhvi.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also said in a democracy, the general public has the right to choose the government of their choice.
The people of Himachal used this right and formed the Congress government with a clear majority, she said.
“But BJP wants to crush this right of the people of Himachal by misusing the money power, power of agencies and power of the Centre. The way BJP is using government security and machinery for this purpose is unprecedented in the history of the country,” Gandhi said on X.
“If a party with 25 MLAs is challenging the majority of 43 MLAs, then it clearly means that it is dependent on horse-trading of representatives. This attitude of theirs is unethical and unconstitutional. The people of Himachal and the country are watching everything. The BJP, which did not stand with the people of the state during the natural disaster, now wants to push the state into political disaster,” she said in a post in Hindi.
Meanwhile, in a post on X, Shivakumar, one of the three observers in the hill-state, alleged that the tactics of the BJP are “worrisome” for democracy.
“As per the directions of the Congress high command, I am reaching #HimachalPradesh. Also, there is absolutely no need to indulge in any hearsay, as I am confident that Congress Party legislators will be loyal to the party and stay put with the mandate that has been accorded to them,” he said on X.
“However, what should be questioned and worrisome is the extremes to which BJP is going in terms of acquiring power, deliberately attempting to crush democracy and public mandate in the process,” he added.