Strap: Writes ‘all the king’s horses and men couldn’t put Humpty together again’
TNR Desk
“All the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t put Humpty together again,” read a cryptic post on his X handle by disqualified Himachal Congress MLA Sudhir Sharma, hinting at the imminent fall of the 14-month-old Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu government.
Sudhir and five other Congress MLAs cross-voted for the BJP in the recent election to the sole Rajya Sabha seat from Himachal, resulting in the victory of Harsh Mahajan and the defeat of Congress candidate Abhishek Manu Singhvi.
Following this Sudhir and the five other rebel legislators — Rajinder Singh Rana (Sujanpur), Sudhir Sharma (Dharamshala), Chaitanya Sharma (Gagret), Ravi Thakur (Lahaul-Spiti), Inder Dutt Lakhanpal (Barsar) and Davinder Bhutto (Kutlehar) — were disqualified from the Vidhan Sabha by Speaker Kuldeep Pathania.
Sudhir and Rana have been leading the dissent against the Sukhu government after being denied ministerial berths. Both had made their discontent known to the Chief Minister as well as the party high command through cryptic posts on social media at regular intervals.
All the six MLAs have been putting up at a Chandigarh hotel and have been provided security by the CRPF and the Haryana Police. Himachal Public Works Department Minister Vikramaditya Singh had met the MLAs at the hotel on Friday (February 1, 2024), triggering speculation that Vikramaditya along with the six MLAs could switch to the BJP.
Vikramaditya stirred further controversy by removing the Indian National Congress (INC) and PWD minister bio from his Facebook profile and writing ‘Sevak of Himachal’ instead. The ambiguity deepened when it was noted that Vikramaditya’s X handle still bore the PWD Minister’s tag.
Amid speculations on March 1 regarding Vikramaditya’s possible interactions with BJP stalwarts Amit Shah and Jagat Prakash Nadda, Chief Minister Sukhu clarified in Shimla that he had sanctioned the PWD Minister’s meetings related to state’s projects while condemning the six rebel MLAs as “black snakes” and “traitors”.
Inder Dutt Lakhanpal too has replaced Congress MLA in his Facebook bio with ‘Barsar ka sevak’. Rana has criticised the evolving narrative, highlighting the shifting perceptions of loyalty and identity within the political landscape.
Meanwhile, BJP sources suggest a directive from the high command to pursue their objectives in Himachal Pradesh, prompting key figures like former Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur and state unit president Rajeev Bindal to remain stationed in Shimla.
