Shimla: Day after the Congress suffered a major setback in Himachal Pradesh were the ruling party lost the lone Rajya Sabha seat to the BJP in the state due to cross-voting of its MLAs, senior Congress leader and Karnataka Deputy CM DK Shivkumar and former Haryana CM Bhupendra Hooda are visiting the state to meet the disgruntled party leaders, sources said.
In a major setback in the Rajya Sabha polls held on Tuesday Feb 27, BJP, which is in the opposition with a total of 25 seats in the Himachal Pradesh assembly, emerged victorious on the lone Rajya Sabha seat in the state after saffron party's Harsh Mahajan defeated Congress stalwart Abhishek Manu Singhvi through a draw after they polled 34 votes each.
As part of the corrective measures, the Congress high command has swung into action and directed Karntaka Deputy CM DK Shivakumar and former Haryana CM Bhupendra Hooda to meet the disgruntled Congress MLAs and try to pacify them, sources said.
Demand to change CM: According to sources, the disgruntled Congress MLAs have bluntly told the high command that they will remain with the Congress only when Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu is replaced as the CM putting the party high command in a tight spot. Sources said that if the government survives, the high command will not hesitate in replacing Sukhu.
In Himachal, the disgruntled Congress MLAs had many a times reached the high command complaining that they were not being heard by the state leadership. Some Congress MLAs were openly expressing their displeasure while some were expressing their grief in private conversations. Sources said that Congress MLAs Rajesh Dharmani and Yadvinder Goma were made ministers after an inordinate delay.
DK Shivkumar and Bhupendra Hooda are arriving in Shimla today where they are scheduled to meet the disgruntled MLAs and pacify them. The two visiting leaders will try to find a respectable solution so that the government can be saved.
