Himachal Pradesh Congress chief's remarks on unfavourable situation vindicates our stand, say six party rebels

The six Congress MLAs, who cross-voted in the Rajya Sabha elections, were disqualified by the assembly Speaker on February 29 for defying a party whip

The six Congress MLAs, who cross-voted in the Rajya Sabha elections, were disqualified by the assembly Speaker on February 29 for defying a party whip. File photos

PTI

Shimla, March 21

The six rebels of the Himachal Pradesh Congress and three Independents on Thursday said they have been vindicated by state party chief Pratibha Singh’s declaration that she will not contest the Lok Sabha elections as the ground situation is not favourable for the party.

The six Congress MLAs, who cross-voted in the Rajya Sabha elections, were disqualified by the assembly Speaker on February 29 for defying a party whip to be present in the assembly and vote in favour of the government during the cut motions and budget.

“The Congress party is breaking like a pack of cards due to the style of functioning of Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu. Gauging the ground situation, even the senior leaders are avoiding contesting the elections,” the six Congress dissidents and the three Independent MLAs said in a joint statement issued here.

The six Congress rebels -- Rajinder Rana (Sujanpur), Inder Dutt Lakhanpal (Barsar), Chetanya Sharma (Gagret), and Devinder Kumar Bhutto (Kutlehar), Sudhir Sharma (Dharamshala) and Ravi Thakur (Lahaul and Spiti) -- had voted for BJP nominee Harsh Mahajan in the recently-concluded Rajya Sabha polls along with the three Independent MLAs Ashish Sharma (Hamirpur), Hoshiyar Singh (Dehra) and K L Thakur (Nalagarh).

The dissident leaders said that the Congress won 40 seats in the assembly elections and formed a stable government. It also enjoyed the support of three independents but the dictatorial attitude of Sukhu and the humiliation of the MLAs by giving preference to “friends” created the present situation, they added.

“I have withdrawn my name and conveyed to the (party) high command that I will not contest the elections and will fully support any candidate which the party central leaders consider suitable,” Singh, the wife of former chief minister Virbhadra Singh and mother of Public Works Minister Vikramaditya Singh, had told reporters on Wednesday, adding that the party workers are demoralised and disappointed.

The shock announcement comes at a time when the Congress government in the state is struggling to keep its house in order after the rebellion by the six party rebels along with the three Independents.

If the Congress workers who had worked hard for the party's victory in the last assembly polls were given responsibilities and importance, they would have been active in the field and this situation would not have arisen, she said, repeating a charge she had made earlier against Sukhu.

The state Congress chief had been vocal and pressing for rewarding the dedicated leaders of the organisation who worked hard for the victory of the party and had even said that the party leaders and the MLAs were unhappy as their concerns were not being addressed.

On the day the Rajya Sabha polls were held on February 27, she had made a specific reference to Rajinder Rana -- one of the six rebel MLAs -- saying that he is a tall leader who had defeated former chief minister P K Dhumal and was expecting a berth in the cabinet, but was ignored.

Leader of the Opposition Jai Ram Thakur had said that the Congress is not getting enough candidates for the Lok Sabha elections. Its big leaders are shying away from entering the fray and even the sitting MPs are not willing to contest, he had said.