People of Himachal with us, MLAs with us, we will run government for 5 years: Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu

He said, “The kind of work done by the state BJP leaders. They did not trust their own people. CRPF was deployed. Haryana police were deployed. A helicopter was used.”

In a stunning upset for the ruling Congress in Himachal Pradesh, the BJP on Tuesday won the state’s lone Rajya Sabha seat with its candidate Harsh Mahajan defeating Congress stalwart Abhishek Singhvi and apparently setting the stage for a no-trust motion in the Assembly.

“But I want to say one thing that the people of Himachal are with us and MLAs are with us and I can definitely say that we will run the Himachal government for five years,” said Sukhu.

Vikramaditya Singh after quitting as minister. (ANI)

Asked whether it was because of the “Operation Lotus” or “own people” that led to the current situation, the Chief Minister said, “Some mistakes may have been made and because of those mistakes, there may have been some deficiencies.”

But he also said, “The kind of ‘tantar-mantar’ used in the Operation Lotus that had bigger (role) in it.”

The voting Tuesday was a tie with both the Congress and the BJP candidates getting 34 votes, indicating that at least six Congress MLAs voted against the party. The result was then declared on the basis of a draw of lots, officials said.

Responding to a question if the six Congress MLAs, who had been issued notices for cross-voting, would be disqualified, Sukhu said, “We are the people who forgive.” The six MLAs, who flew to Shimla from Panchkula Wednesday morning and returned later in the day, appeared before Speaker Pathania and sought seven days’ time to file a reply.