Rajya Sabha polls: Singhvi loses, Congress stares at losing govt in Himachal Pradesh

BJP candidate Harsh Mahajan was declared winner by a draw of lots after both the candidates were tied at 34 votes each.

New Delhi: Congress is staring at losing its government in Himachal Pradesh on Tuesday after disgruntled MLAs switched sides to vote for BJP candidate Harsh Mahajan against party candidate Abhishek Singhvi in the Rajya Sabha election and eventually winning on a draw of lots.

After the polling, Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu alleged that six Congress MLAs have been “abducted” by the BJP with CRPF and Haryana Police taking them to Haryana’s Panchkula, indicating that all is not well in the hill state where his party has a majority.

A video surfaced online purportedly showing a small convoy of cars outside a guest house in Haryana's Panchkula.

Congress MLA Sudhir Sharma, an independent legislator and some BJP MLAs could also be spotted in the clip, PTI reported.

When asked if the BJP would be insisting on a floor test, former Chief Minister Jairam Thakur said the budget will be presented on Wednesday and they would see how the situation was evolving. “But I can see that the government has lost the majority,” he said.

Himachal is one of the three states where the Congress is in power in the country other than Karnataka and Telangana.

Congress has 40 MLAs in a house of 68 besides the support of three independent lawmakers. The rest 25 belong to the BJP. However in the Rajya Sabha election, the BJP got the support of six Congress MLAs and three independents.

Mahajan was declared winner by a draw of lots after both the candidates were tied at 34 votes each.

In the Rajya Sabha election, Singhvi needed just 35 votes and on paper, the Congress was to win the election comfortably. However, sensing trouble in the Congress camp, BJP fielded former Congress leader Mahajan against Singhvi, who is an “outsider”.

Trouble has been brewing in the Himachal Congress for some time with a section unhappy with the way Sukhu, who is considered to be a close aide of Rahul Gandhi, has been running the government. Sukhu was also accused of ignoring the interests of partymen who were not his loyalists.

The Congress central leadership also was aware of the emerging situation in the state, which was evident when it chose Rajasthan for Sonia Gandhi’s entry into Rajya Sabha despite the party not being in power. A senior leader told DH earlier that Himachal was “not safe” for Sonia due to the emerging situation in the state.

The central leadership had chosen Sukhu over Congress chief Pratibha Singh, senior MP and wife of former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, and as a message on rewarding grassroot workers.

Sources claimed the disgruntled MLAs had been raising their concerns with regard to the Sukhu government for some time but the leadership has not interfered.