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NEW DELHI: Himachal Pradesh chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Friday lashed out at the six MLAs who cross-voted in Rajya Sabha elections, even as state Congress chief Pratibha Singh said the political crisis could have been avoided if concerns of rebels had been addressed in a timely manner.
A day after the truce brokered by party observers between the warring factions in Himachal Pradesh, the two senior leaders expressed contrasting views.
Sukhu said that some Congress MLAs sold their souls and went against the party ethics to cross-vote in the Rajya Sabha election.
“Those who betrayed the party and played with the sentiments of the people of the state won’t be spared even by the Almighty,” said Sukhu addressing a public meeting in Dharampur in the Kasauli assembly constituency of Solan district.
On the other hand, Pratibha Singh claimed that there was acrimony towards the chief minister. She backed the rebel MLAs and said that the leaders who worked hard to ensure the party’s victory were not “accommodated” by the chief minister.
“Fourteen months is a long period and I have been consistently urging the chief minister to accommodate leaders who worked hard for the victory of the party but nothing was done,” she said.
Had the issues of the disgruntled MLAs been addressed on time, the crisis could have been avoided, she added.
The six dissidents, along with three Independents whose support Congress had been counting on for Rajya Sabha poll, cross-voted in favour of BJP’s Harsh Mahajan. The latter won through a draw of lots after he and Congress’s Abhishek Manu Singhvi were tied at 34 votes each. BJP, with 24 MLAs in the 68-strong House, insists vote showed that Sukhu government had been reduced to a minority.
Pratibha Singh also played down rumours suggesting her joining the BJP and said she and her family have always worked to strengthen the Congress.
“All the issues have now been sorted and the observers have given their report to the High Command. The matter will be discussed when the High Command calls us,” she said.