Congress has lost mandate, Sukhu should step down, says Jai Ram

Shimla, June 6

Pointing out that the Congress couldn’t secure a lead in 61 Assembly segments out of the total 68 constituencies, including that of Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur said the Sukhu government has lost the mandate of the people.

“Despite having its government in the state, the Congress lost 61 constituencies. The Chief Minister and most of his ministers failed to get a lead even in their constituencies. In just 15 months, this government has lost the popular mandate. On moral grounds, the CM should resign,” said Thakur, who guided political novice Kangana Ranaut to a victory against Vikramaditya Singh of the Congress in the Mandi Parliamentary segment.

“The Mandi election was hyped up a lot and the Congress threw in all its might to win this seat. The CM called me a flop director and made several other comments, but now the results are in front of us. I did the job my central leadership had assigned to me,” said Thakur.

The former CM further said Himachal was the only state other than Delhi where the BJP made a clean sweep despite not having its government in the state. “Overall, we secured 56.29 per cent votes, 14.72 per cent more than the Congress. Our biggest win came in Kangra, where we got 61 per cent votes, followed by 58 per cent on Hamirpur, 54 per cent in Shimla and 53 per cent in Mandi. The people of the state have yet again reposed their faith in the leadership of the Prime Minister,” said Thakur.

As for the defeat in the bypoll elections, in which the BJP won two seats as opposed to the Congress pocketing four, Thakur refused to see it as the rejection of BJP’s ‘Operation Lotus’ in the state. “It’s wrong to assume that Operation Lotus was executed in the state. The Congress MLAs were simmering with anger due to the humiliation they were facing in the party, and they decided to leave the party of their own accord. The mess was created by the Congress, the BJP was not responsible,” said Thakur.

Thakur, however, warned that the Congress government was still not out of the troubled waters. “The win in four bypolls is merely a momentary relief for the government; the trouble is not over yet. The High Court has reserved its decision on six Chief Parliamentary Secretaries, and we hope it would be pronounced soon after the courts reopen,” said Thakur.