‘I am a fighter’: Himachal Pradesh CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu after Vikramaditya Singh quits state cabinet

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Wednesday said that he has not resigned from his position even as the Congress government in the hilly state after Abhishek Manu Singhvi lost the lone Rajya Sabha seat to BJP’s Harsh Mahajan. Six Congress MLAs also cross-voted in the recently conducted Rajya Sabha polls. 

“I am a fighter. I hail from a humble family. We will win this battle and also prove a majority in the Vidhan Sabha,”  Sukhu was quoted  as saying by news agency PTI. 

He further claimed that the Congress government in Himachal Pradesh will complete five years. “We are in touch with some of the MLAs who cross-voted in the Rajya Sabha polls,”  Sukhu said. 

Virbhadra Singh’s son quits Himachal Pradesh cabinet

Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu’s remarks come after former Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh’s son Vikramaditya Singh quit the state cabinet. Vikramaditya Singh said that the Congress government in the state was formed with everyone’s contribution but the views of the party’s MLAs were “ignored”.

“For me, the most important thing is the relationship with the people of Himachal Pradesh… But the kind of system prevailing in the government in the last one year, how MLAs were overlooked and attempts were made to stifle their voices- this is a result of that,”  Singh said. 

Singh was also distraught by the party’s ignorance vis-a-vis his father Virbhadra Singh.  “Someone who was the Chief Minister of the state for 6 times, due to whom this government was formed in the state- they could not find a small space for his statue on Mall Road. This is the respect this government has shown to my late father,”  he lamented. 

Meanwhile, the Congress high command has sent senior leaders DK Shivakumar and Bhupender Singh Hooda to engage with the disgruntled MLAs after the Rajya Sabha elections shocker. 

BJP calls for floor test

Besides this, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) also called for a floor test after claiming that the state government has lost its majority. Leader of Opposition Jairam Thakur demanded Sukhu’s resignation, claiming the Rajya Sabha polls made it clear that the Congress government was in minority. 

Moreover, Himachal Pradesh Assembly Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania suspended 15 MLAs of the saffron party, including Jairam Thakur, and adjourned the House. They were suspended due to misbehaviour and raising slogans inside the house. Earlier in the morning, Thakur told reporters, “We are apprehensive that Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania might suspend the BJP MLAs so that the budget can be passed in the Vidhan Sabha.”

(With agency inputs)