Himachal Pradesh: 'CM Sukhu Is Not Resigning'; Min Vikramaditya Quits; Assembly passes Budget

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minsiter Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu will not tender his resignation. His disgruntled cabinet colleague and Public Works Minister Vikramaditya Singh has quit while six of the party legislators are in the BJP's fold. Assembly Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania suspended 15 BJP MLAs, including Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur. The Assembly passed the Budget following which the adjourned the House sine die

Shimla:Amid the brewing political storm in Himachal Pradesh, the state Assembly passed the Budget and Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania adjourned the House sine die.

With this decision, the Sukhu government has been saved from coming into a minority. The Budget was passed without the Opposition at around 2.30 PM. Sukhwinder Sukhu presented the budget on February 17, but it was passed without opposition on Wednesday.

The Budget session was scheduled to be held on Thursday, February 29. The budget session of the Himachal Pradesh Assembly started on February 14 and was to continue till February 29, but Assembly Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania adjourned the House sine die.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Wednesday said he has not resigned from his post. Talking to the media, Sukhu said, "There are reports the Chief Minister has resigned. I want to clarify that I have not resigned."

He said, "We will prove our majority during the Budget Session. The Congress government will definitely complete its full five-year term." The political turmoil in the hill state is more pronounced after the BJP candidate emerged victorious in the Rajya Sabha election due to cross-voting by Congress legislators.

For crisis management, senior Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda, has been appointed as one of the two observers for Himachal Pradesh. Hooda will arrive in Shimla later today from Chandigarh and will speak to the legislators.

The resignation announcement from Public Works Minister Vikramaditya Singh attests to the growing discontent among the party lawmakers. The party is now faced with the Himalayan task of keeping its members together to prevent the fall of its government.

The resignation comes a day after the Rajya Sabha election results went in favour of the Opposition in the state. Singh, who resigned Wednesday is the son of former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh. He was elected to the Assembly from Shimla Rural seat.

In a separate development, Himachal Pradesh Speaker Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania suspended 15 BJP MLAs, including Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur. Himachal Pradesh Parliamentary Affairs Minister Harsh Vardhan Chauhan presented a proposal to expel BJP MLAs. Harshvardhan Chauhan said that on Tuesday, BJP members had misbehaved with the Speaker. Citing this, he presented a proposal to expel many MLAs under Rule 319.

After the proposal was passed, BJP MLAs started creating a ruckus. The Speaker said the suspension relates to the "misbehaving" with marshalls outside Pathania's office on Tuesday besides creating disorder in the House.

The suspended legislators are: Vipin Parmar, Vinod Kumar, Hans Raj, Janak Raj, Balbir Verma, Trilok Jamwal, Deep Raj, Surinder Shouri, Puran Thakur, Inder Singh Gandhi, Dilip Thakur, Randhir Sharma, Lokender Kumar, and Ranvir Singh.

"We are apprehensive that Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania might suspend the BJP MLAs so that the budget can be passed in the Vidhan Sabha," Thakur told reporters earlier in the morning.

He said the Rajya Sabha election had made it clear that the Congress government was in minority and demanded the resignation of Sukhu.

Earlier in the day, six Congress MLAs, who voted for the BJP candidate in the Rajya Sabha polls in Himachal Pradesh, left Panchkula in a chopper. No details relating to their destination were disclosed to the media. The legislators including Rajinder Rana and Ravi Thakur had left for Tau Devi Lal Stadium in BJP-ruled Haryana's Panchkula in the morning, said sources. The MLAs who went to Haryana from Shimla on Tuesday after casting their votes in the Rajya Sabha polls were learnt to be in touch with the BJP. The development has spun a crisis that has been engulfing the Congress government in the hill state.

Sources close to the legislators said they were "disappointed" with the working style of Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and the rebels have been urging the Congress top brass to change the leadership of the government.

Ravi dismissed Sukhu's claims that some party legislators were "kidnapped" and said that his free will permits him anywhere he wants to go, referring to his Panchkula visit.

According to Sukhu, five to six Congress MLAs were "kidnapped" and whisked away by the CRPF and the Haryana Police.

Rebuffing Sukhu, Ravi had said, "Hum ghumne aaye hain...this is my private time, so I can go anywhere".

Replying to a question on the possible floor test in Himachal Assembly, the legislator said, "In the interest of Himachal Pradesh and Lahaul and Spiti, we supported Harsh Mahajan ji (BJP candidate) so that we can get more budget (from the Centre)."

Ravi, Rana and four other Congress legislators have reached the PWD Guest House in Panchkula, where they checked into a hotel.

On Tuesday, the BJP pulled off a stunner on the ruling Congress in Himachal Pradesh by defeating the latter on the state's lone Rajya Sabha seat. Congress candidate's defeat has become the prelude for the BJP to launch its salvo of a no-trust motion in the Assembly.

Both candidates- Harsh Mahajan defeated Congress stalwart Abhishek Manu Singhvi- received 34 votes each, resulting in a tie, prompting a draw of lots to decide the winner. The election official declared Mahajan as winner after the lots.

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.

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