‘Operation Lotus’ exposed fragility of Sukhu govt to political manoeuvring

Never before has Himachal been witness to a bigger political upheaval than what was seen in February, following the cross-voting in Rajya Sabha election by six Congress legislators, almost bringing about the fall of a government having a comfortable majority.

Although the 14-month Congress regime led by Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu survived the ‘Operation Lotus’, it exposed the fragility of the state government to political manoeuvring.

The attempt by the BJP to bring down the Congress government also exposed the chinks within the Congress which the BJP encashed to destabilise the government.

It was on February 27 this year that six Congress dissident MLAs – Sudhir Sharma (Dharamsala), ID Lakhanpal (Barsar), Rajinder Rana (Sujanpur), Ravi Thakur (Lahaul-Spiti), Chaitanya Sharma (Gagret) and Devender Bhutto (Kutlehar) — voted in favour of Harsh Mahajan, the surprise BJP candidate for the Rajya Sabha election. Three Independent MLAs — Hoshyar Singh, KL Thakur and Ashish Sharma — too supported the BJP, ensuring a major upset for the ruling Congress.

Even though whispers of dissent in the corridors of power had hinted at a possible cross-voting, even CM Sukhu had not anticipated that the number of defiant MLAs would be as high as six.

The Congress sensed trouble the moment the BJP — despite having a mere 25 MLAs as against 40 of the Congress — decided to contest the Rajya Sabha election. The fielding of a former Congress leader who switched sides only added suspense to the political drama.

The worst fears of the ruling party came true as six of its own MLAs cross-voted, ensuring the victory of Mahajan over Congress nominee Abhishek Manu Singhvi. Both candidates got 34 votes each. With Singhvi losing to Mahajan after a draw of lots following a tie, the Congress worries were not confined to losing the Rajya Sabha seat but to avoid the imminent fall of its government.

What followed was a flurry of political activity leading to disqualification of BJP legislators by the Vidhan Sabha Speaker for creating ruckus so as to ensure the passage of the Budget for 2024-25. The next two days saw Speaker Kuldeep Pathania disqualifying the six Congress MLAs for defying the party whip for the cut motions and passing of the Budget.

It was also for the first time that there were nine Vidhan Sabha bypolls along with the Lok Sabha poll and the electorate gave a split verdict. Even as the BJP swept the parliamentary poll, winning all four Lok Sabha seats, the Congress won six of the nine assembly bypolls to get back to a tally of 40 in the Vidhan Sabha.

The BJP’s ambition to capture power in Himachal remained unfulfilled even though actress Kangana Ranaut won from Mandi Lok Sabha seat. The BJP’s tally also rose from 25 to 28 as two Congress MLAs — Sudhir Sharma and ID Lakhanpal — and an Independent Ashish Sharma won on the saffron ticket.

There have been byelections and even cross-voting in the Rajya Sabha elections in the past in Himachal but not to this extent where the very survival of the government was at stake. The year will go down in the political history of Himachal as the most tumultuous year.