BJP wants to ‘crush’ people’s mandate in HP: Priyanka

Amid a political crisis in the Congress-led Himachal Pradesh government, party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday alleged that the BJP wants to “crush” people’s mandate by misusing money power and central agencies.

She also alleged that the BJP wants to push the state towards a “political disaster”.

In a democracy, the general public has the right to choose a government of their choice, said Priyanka Gandhi, who had played a crucial role in the Himachal Assembly poll campaign in 2022 and has been involved with the party’s affairs in the state.

“The people of Himachal used this right and formed the Congress government with a clear majority. But the BJP wants to crush this right of the people of Himachal by misusing the money power, power of agencies and the power of the Centre,” Priyanka Gandhi said in a post in Hindi on X.

She said the way the BJP is using government’s security and other machinery for this purpose is unprecedented in the history of the country.

The Congress on Wednesday said the BJP cannot take away the mandate of the people of Himachal Pradesh through its ‘Operation Lotus’ and it will not hesitate to take tough steps in the party’s interest.

The crisis was triggered when in a stunning upset, the BJP won the state’s lone Rajya Sabha seat with its candidate Harsh Mahajan defeating Congress stalwart Singhvi.

In the 68-member Himachal Pradesh Assembly, the Congress has 40 MLAs while the BJP has 25 legislators. The remaining three seats are held by independents.