Minister Vikramaditya Singh met six Congress MLAs who has been disqualified

In Panchkula,  the BJP-ruled state of Haryana, minister Vikramaditya Singh of Himachal Pradesh has met with six rebel Congress MPs ahead of a trip to Delhi, even as chief minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu on Thursday seemed to have averted a crisis facing his administration. According to reports, Congressman Vikramaditya Singh, who resigned as a minister for Himachal Pradesh and said he was “sidelined” in the party, travelled to Chandigarh to meet with the six dissident MLAs who were barred from voting for the BJP in the Rajya Sabha election. Congress was uneasy after the conference and began to fight extra hard to preserve its only administration in north India. According to his official schedule, Singh was supposed to see Union Minister Nitin Gadkari in Delhi.

Pratibha Singh, the chief of the Himachal Pradesh Congress, stated in an exclusive interview with India Today TV on Thursday, February 29, that there were “certain issues which could not be decided” in the confusion. She stated that it would take some time before she is in a “comfortable position” to declare that the administration led by her party “will last (five years)”. According to a report, Vikramaditya spent the night at the same establishment. He was said to be leaving for New Delhi after the conference to engage with senior Congress leaders “before taking any major step.”

News18 was informed later in the day by sources that two or three more Congress MLAs had gone to see the rebel MLAs. Six rebels’ disqualifications have provided the Congress with breathing room in the state legislature and a buffer to preserve the government. Using the anti-defection statute, the speaker initiated action against the six because, according to her, they disobeyed the Congress whip during the financial measure vote. The order has been contested by the rebels at the Supreme Court. The assembly’s effective strength is currently down to 62, and the majority is at 32, which is less than the effective strength of the Congress, which is 34. The disqualification may be overturned by courts.

The situation started on Tuesday after Abhishek Singhvi of the Congress lost the state’s Rajya Sabha elections. Each of the BJP candidates Harsh Mahajan and Singhvi garnered 34 votes. A drawing of lots was then used to break the tie, favouring Mahajan. He received the backing of three independents and six members of Congress who had previously sided with the administration.