Himachal political crisis: CM Sukhu goes on offensive against 6 rebel MLAs, Sudhir loyalists shunted out from Dharamshala MC, road blocked to Ravi Thakur’s house in Lahaul
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TNR Desk
Amid the ongoing political crisis in Himachal Pradesh, the Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu-led Congress government has gone on the offensive against the six rebel party MLAs who cross-voted for the BJP in the recent Rajya Sabha election in the Vidhan Sabha.
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 three Independents, and the BJP having 25 legislators of its own in the Assembly.
Subsequently disqualified from the Vidhan Sabha by Speaker Kuldeep Pathania under the anti-defection law, the six Congress MLAs are Rajinder Singh Rana (Sujanpur), Sudhir Sharma (Dharamshala), Chaitanya Sharma (Gagret), Ravi Thakur (Lahaul-Spiti), Inder Dutt Lakhanpal (Barsar) and Davinder Bhutto (Kutlehar).
The Sukhu government on Saturday (March 2, 2024) cancelled the appointment of six councilllors nominated to the Dharamshala Municipal Corporation by disqualified rebel MLA Sudhir Sharma. The action was taken under Section 3 of the Himachal Pradesh Municipal Corporation Act 1994.
The Governor nominated five new councillors — Rajeev Mahajan from Depot Market, Sanjeev Sharma from Civil Line, Abhishek Anand from Ward No. 17, Dr. Anurag Khanna from Civil Line and Randhir Shekhadi from Kotwali Market. Sudhir’s loyalists who have been ousted are Shailendra Acharya from Shyamnagar, Dina Nath from Ward No. 16, Mani Mahesh Jora from Kotwali Bazar, Nisha Gurung from Sidhwadi and Sunil Vikram Khanka from Kand.
Earlier, Sudhir’s supporters, including local Youth Congress president Ashwani alias Daksh Rana, were removed from their positions. On Thursday, Sukhu’s supporters led by Vijay Inder Karan attempted to burn an effigy of Sudhir Sharma at Kacheri Chowk in Dharamshala. When Sukhu supporters were raising slogans, Daksh arrived with his supporters and raised slogans in support of Sudhir, leading to a tense atmosphere. Police intervened to calm the situation, but a scuffle broke out between the two groups.
Posters showing the six rebels as “black sheep” have been put up in Palampur and other parts of the state while effigies of the MLAs were burnt in their home towns by Congress workers loyal to CM Sukhu. In Lahaul-Spiti, a link road built on forest land to the house of local MLA Ravi Thakur was blocked by raising a stone wall.
