‘Where did your votes vanish?’ Amit Shah takes pot-shots at Himachal CM Sukhu over allegations that BJP kidnapped 6 Congress MLAs
- Himachal CM’s wife may get ministry if Congress follows this tradition for cabinet expansion - November 5, 2024
- Himachal High Court maintains stay on termination of 900 horticulture project employees - November 5, 2024
- Himachal weather: After month of drought-like conditions, rain likely on this day - November 5, 2024
TNR Desk
Amid the Himachal Pradesh political crisis, Union Home Minister Amit Shah has taken pot-shots over Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu following the allegations of kidnapping six Congress rebels levelled by the CM against the BJP.
Asked about CM Sukhu’s allegations that the Haryana Police and the CRPF had kidnapped the six MLAs, Shah said, during a TV interview, that how could anyone be kidnapped when the entire voting for the Rajya Sabha election was conducted on-camera in the Vidhan Sabha. “What kind of childish talk is this? In today’s world of CCTV surveillance, how is it possible to kidnap someone from the Assembly during voting?” Shah said.
The Home Minister reasoned that the voting took place in the presence of Election Commission officials as well as the observers appointed by both parties. “You refuse to talk about where your votes vanished and now you are speaking about the kidnapping of MLAs. I refuse to understand what kind of politics you are doing,” said Shah, targeting Chief Minister Sukhu.
The Chief Minister has alleged that the BJP orchestrated the entire political conspiracy in order to topple the Congress government. Immediately after the voting in the Vidhan Sabha, the six Congress rebels as well as three Independent MLAs who were supposed to vote for the Congress were moved to BJP-ruled Panchkula in Haryana under tight security provided by the CRPF and the Haryana Police.
As a result of the cross-voting, BJP nominee Harsh Mahajan emerged victorious while top lawyer and Congress candidate Abhishek Manu Singhvi had to taste defeat. This happened despite the Congress claiming the support of 43 MLAs, including 40 of its own and three Independents. The BJP has 25 legislators in the Assembly.
The six Congress rebel MLAs — Rajinder Singh Rana (Sujanpur), Sudhir Sharma (Dharamshala), Chaitanya Sharma (Gagret), Ravi Thakur (Lahaul-Spiti), Inder Dutt Lakhanpal (Barsar) and Davinder Bhutto (Kutlehar) — were subsequently disqualified from the Vidhan Sabha by Speaker Kuldeep Pathania under the anti-defection law.
