Shimla: Six disqualified Congress MLAs and three independent MLAs have said that they will file a defamation case against Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu. The names of disqualified MLAs from the Congress party include Rajendra Rana, Sudhir Sharma, Inder Dutt Lakhanpal, Ravi Thakur, Devendra Bhutto Chaitanya Sharma, along with independent MLAs --Hoshiar Singh, Ashish Sharma and K. l. Thakur.
A joint statement by the nine leaders said that Sukhu has become distraught after losing the majority in the state, and he is afraid that as soon as he loses power, his government's betrayal of the public and the dark deeds done by his friends will also come to light. They also said that Sukhu has proved to be the unluckiest Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, who closed the doors of jobs for the youth as soon as he came to power and threw the Congress manifesto in the dustbin.
The leaders alleged that the Chief Minister has given a free hand to his friends to loot, and they are openly extorting money from people and also buying properties worth crores. Meanwhile, by-polls will be held in six assembly seats in Himachal Pradesh on June 1, coinciding with the seventh phase of Lok Sabha polls, on the vacancies that arose due to the disqualification of six Congress MLAs who had cross-voted in the Rajya Sabha election last month and defied the party whip in the House during cut motion.
In Himachal Pradesh, the by-polls will be held in Lahul and Spiti, Dharamshala, Sujanpur, Barsar, Gagret and Kutlehar and these contests pose a stiff challenge for the Congress government in Himachal Pradesh which seems to be on the brink following cross-voting in the Rajya Sabha election that led to the defeat of party nominee Abhishek Manu Singhvi even as the party had a clear majority in the assembly.
The problems for the ruling Congress compounded after Himachal Pradesh PWD Minister Vikramaditya Singh resigned. His resignation was not accepted even as his mother and state Congress chief Pratibha Singh took jibes at the style of functioning of Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu. A crisis in the ruling Congress was averted due to the intervention of central party leaders.
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