TNR Desk
Despite two Congress turncoats sending him defamation notices, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has again reiterated his allegation that disqualified rebel MLAs were paid Rs 15 crore while their “mastermind” charged a much higher amount.
Speaking to mediapersons upon his return from Delhi where he attended poll-related meeting, Sukhu said he had “evidence” to show that huge amount of money had exchanged hands to try to topple his government.
Former Dharamshala Congress MLA Sudhir Sharma had two days ago sent a Rs 5 crore defamation notice to Chief Minister Sukhu, seeking compensation for damage to his reputation.
Sudhir was one of the six Congress MLAs who had cross-voted for the BJP in the February 27 Rajya Sabha election to the lone seat from Himachal.
Congress candidate Abhishek Manu Singhvi had lost to BJP’s Harsh Mahajan, causing much embarrassment to Chief Minister Sukhu as his party had 40 MLAs compared to 25 of the saffron party.
Sudhir along with the other five disqualified Congress rebel MLA — Rajinder Rana (Sujanpur), ID Lakhanpal (Barsar), Davinder Kumar Bhutto (Kutlehar), Chaitanya Sharma (Gagret) and Ravi Thakur (Lahaul-Spiti) — have joined the BJP, which has fielded them from their respective constituencies for the June 1 Assembly byelections.
After Sudhir, Rana too has sent a defamation notice to the Chief Minister, seeking similar damages for “loss to his reputation”. Sudhir has even approached the police demanding the lodging of an FIR in connection with the defamation case.
The Chief Minister claimed he had evidence to prove his allegations of horse-trading and would provide it whenever there was requirement.
Sukhu has been calling Sudhir the alleged mastermind of the conspiracy saying “he charged a much higher amount”. Sudhir has time and again denied the allegations.
