A DAY after its official candidate suffered an embarrassing defeat in the Rajya Sabha elections in Himachal Pradesh, the Congress central leadership on Wednesday scrambled to avert a crisis and save the state government even as six party MLAs and three Independents, who cross-voted for the BJP nominee, remained out of the party's reach. While young minister Vikramaditya Singh announced his resignation from the Cabinet in the morning, the central leadership managed to pacify him by the end of the day. After a meeting with AICC observers D K Shivakumar, Bhupesh Baghel and Bhupinder Singh Hooda late in the evening, Vikramaditya Singh said he was not pressing for his resignation. Vikramaditya Singh and his mother, PCC chief Pratibha Singh, are ranged against Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, whose fate hung in the balance with several MLAs demanding his removal. The party appeared to be working at multiple levels. State Parliamentary Affairs Minister Harshwardhan Chauhan filed a petition seeking the disqualification of the six MLAs who cross-voted under the anti-defection law, but Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania reserved his decision, letting the threat of disqualification hang over their heads. Sources said the party is adopting a carrot-and-stick policy even as it appeared wary of the BJP's moves. The Congress central leadership rushed Shivakumar, Baghel and Hooda to Shimla in a bid to douse the raging fires and talk to the MLAs. Salvaging the government was the immediate priority, said sources, adding that the leadership could consider replacing the Chief Minister if such a step was needed to save the government. Meanwhile, the Sukhu government, which completed a year in December, averted an immediate collapse as the Finance Bill was passed by voice vote in the Assembly, after the Speaker suspended 15 BJP MLAs, including Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur. Soon after, the Speaker adjourned the House sine die. But, despite passage of the Budget, the Congress is still staring at a crisis. While announcing his resignation from Sukhu's Cabinet in a surprise move in the morning, Vikramaditya Singh spoke about attempts by some quarters to “humiliate” and “undermine” him. He said he was “deeply hurt” with the developments over the last two days and argued that the party should ponder over what went wrong. Vikramaditya Singh claimed the Congress fought the 2022 Assembly elections in the name of his father and former chief minister Virbhadra Singh, but the party’s government failed to find even a small plot of land on Shimla's Mall Road to install a statue of the six-time former Chief Minister. “It is not a political but an emotional thing for a son,” he said, quoting a couplet, “Kitna hai badnaseeb 'Zafar' dafn ke liye, do gaz zameen bhi na mili ku-e-yaar mein.” Later in the evening, Vikramaditya Singh said he was not pressing for his resignation in the larger interest and unity of the party. “There is a difference between taking the resignation back and not pressing for it further, till the time the dialogue and action of the observers is not complete. Since we have had discussions with observers and have apprised them of the prevailing circumstances. I will not press for my resignation. The final outcome will be revealed in the coming time. The observers said they are looking into things,” he said. Besides Vikramaditya Singh, the AICC observers met Sukhu, Pratibha Singh and Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri. On a firefighting mission, the central observers as well as AICC in-charge of the state, Rajeev Shukla, also met some MLAs and could meet more to gauge their minds. Another big reason for worry for the Congress was the continued rebellion by the six party MLAs — Rajinder Rana, Sudhir Sharma, Chaitanya Sharma, Inder Dutt Lakhanpal, Davinder Kumar Bhutto and Ravi Thakur — and the three Independent legislators — Ashish Sharma, K L Thakur and Hoshyar Singh. Arguing that the conspiracy to topple his government had been foiled, Sukhu said: “We have brought disqualification motion against the MLAs who were lured. Truth triumphs in a democracy. In future, we will expose those behind the conspiracy to topple the government.” He alleged that “allurements” to the tune of “crores of rupees” were given “overnight”. The six MLAs, who were served notice following a petition moved by Minister Chauhan, appeared before Speaker Pathania along with lawyer Satya Pal Jain and sought seven days' time to file their replies. They pleaded that they had only been served copies of the showcause notice, without the annexures and copies of the petition. Pathania said he had heard both the parties and reserved the order. “The MLAs did not indulge in any conduct which comes under the anti-defection law,” Jain said, adding that while the petition to seek their disqualification was submitted on Tuesday, “an additional affidavit was submitted Wednesday morning”. Pathania said the six MLAs were issued notices following the petition which alleged that they had defied the three-line whip to remain present at the time of voting on the cut motion on the Budget. “Six Congress members were not there and that amounts to a violation of whip and hence attracts the provision of anti-defection laws. Hence, I issued notices to them,” the Speaker said, adding that both parties would be heard and given reasonable time to present their side. For the Finance Bill, the Speaker said “both parties issued three-line whip and if any member defies the whip it attracts the provision of the anti-defection law”. He said he acted as per the procedure and rules. Sources said the party's central leadership, too, was not happy with Sukhu's handling of the Rajya Sabha elections. A Congress leader said a proposal under consideration was to replace Sukhu with Mukesh Agnihotri, with Vikramaditya Singh as his deputy. “It all depends on the consultations the observers have with the MLAs. The central leadership will take a decision on the basis of the report of the observers,” he said. The Congress, which has 40 MLAs and the support of three Independents in the 68-member Assembly, managed to get only 34 votes — one less than the simple majority mark — in the Rajya Sabha elections. BJP nominee Harsh Mahajan, a former Congress leader who quit the party and joined the BJP in 2022, also secured 34 votes, resulting in a tie with Congress's Abhishek Manu Singhvi and getting elected through a draw of lots. In Delhi, Congress communication head Jairam Ramesh said the party would not hesitate to take some tough steps as its priority was to ensure that the people's mandate in favour of the Congress was not betrayed. As his fate remained uncertain, Sukhu put up a brave face, asserting that the Congress government would complete its five-year term. He also denied reports that he had resigned. “I have not resigned. I am a fighter,” he said. Sukhu said he had spoken to Vikramaditya Singh, whom he called his younger brother, and asserted there was no reason to accept his resignation. He said Vikramaditya Singh’s grievances would be addressed.
