Rajya Sabha poll: After crossing voting, BJP’s Harsh Mahajan wins lone seat in Himachal
Harsh Mahajan, the BJP’s nominee for the lone Rajya Sabha seat from Himachal Pradesh, was declared winner after a high drama which saw cross-voting by six sitting Congress MLAs and three independents.
The Congress has 40 MLAs in the state Assembly while the BJP having 25 members in the legislative Assembly yet the BJP managed to turn the tables on the congress as part of a larger plan to score a victory.
The Congress had fielded noted Supreme Court lawyer Abhishek Mani Singhvi, who polled 34 votes after six MLAs resorted to cross voting with three independents.
“Since both candidates had 34 MLAs, a decision on the winner was taken by draw of lots as per rules of the Election Commission of India”, said former Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, who is also leader of Opposition.
Mahajan is former Congress minister and estranged loyalist of former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh. He had joined the BJP ahead of the state Assembly elections and was later nominated to the state executive of the BJP by BJP national president J P Nadda.
Being a strategist of his own repute, Mahajan is understood to have mobilised the support of Congress MLAs discreetly to give a jolt to Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu.
Immediately after the voting all MLAs who had done cross voting were taken to Panchukla under heavy escort of the CRPF and Haryana police.
Even the chief minister alleged that MLAs have been kidnapped but Rajendra Rana, one of the six defiant MLAs, told mediapersons at Panchkula that they had come on their own and will return to Shimla tonight.
Beside Rana, other MLAs who travelled to Panchkula included Sudhir Sharma, a former Congress minister and MLA from Dharamshala, Inder Dutt Lakhanpal, Chetanya Sharma, Devinder Bhutto and Ravi Thakur.
Former Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur later told media persons that the Congress government has been reduced to a minority and Chief Minister Sukhu should submit his resignation.
“The government has lost the moral right to stay in power.” When asked if his party will seek a vote of trust, Thakur said: “Budget will be presented tomorrow. We will discuss the Budget tomorrow and then we will see the situation there. But I can see that the government has lost the majority.”
Reacting to the developments, Sukhu said he was surprised at how the MLAs changed their stance even as they had attended the Congress Legislature party meeting and a dinner.
“It can’t be without some considerations and everyone knows what it could be .This cross voting is an act of political immorality. It was not simply because they were upset or unhappy with me”, he said.
Three independents who resorted to cross voting included Hoshiar Singh, Ashish Kumar, K L Thakur. Of these, Hoshiar Singh and K L Thakur are BJP rebels.
Insiders say the cross voting was a well planned strategy or the BJP on the line of ‘operation lotus’ and the development has created a new crisis for Sukhu government which failed to realise the threat to the smooth plans of Rajya Sabha polls.Many believes , Sukhu was over confident that MLAs will not resort to crossing voting.
On the other hand the BJP National Vice President Sadaun Singh was camping in Shimla for the last two days. The MLAs were in touch with the BJP leaders.
