Himachal Pradesh - Ex-Congressman, Crossvotes Ensure RS Seat For BJP

Losing the Rajya Sabha poll for the single seat in the hill state of Himachal Pradesh has become an embarrassment for the state’s ruling Congress party, ahead of the Parliamentary polls. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Harsh Mahajan defeated the Congress party’s Abhishek Manu Singhvi. The poll went to the wire, with both the candidates securing 34 votes each, and the winner decided by a draw of lots.

Mahajan is a former Congress heavyweight who had jumped ship ahead of the state assembly polls in 2022. He has a record of never having lost an election. Singhvi’s loss is seen as a major humiliation for the Congress high command as well. Singhvi is the party's national spokesperson.

The Rajya Sabha poll was marked by cross voting from the Congress MLAs as the party is in absolute power in the state with a strength of 40 legislators out of 68 members. The BJP has 25 legislators while there are three independents. Six Congress MLAS and three independents reportedly polled in favour of Mahajan.

The result leaves a question mark over the survival of the Congress government in the state if the Opposition brings about a no confidence motion. It also leaves a bigger question mark over Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu continuing on the post even if the Congress remains in power to complete a full term.

It needs to be underlined that the BJP’s national president Jagat Prakash Nadda belongs to this hill state although he has been sent to the Rajya Sabha from Gujarat. Himachal Pradesh is also the home turf of union minister Anurag Thakur. The victory is also a shot in the arm for Sukhu’s predecessor Jairam Thakur.

The day of the Rajya Sabha poll witnessed high pitched drama. Sukhu expressed hopes of a Congress victory if some legislators were ‘sold out’. Jairam raised allegations of misconduct saying that a helicopter was sent to Punjab to bring Chintpurni MLA Sudarshan Singh Babloo to cast his vote in the polls. Just before the declaration of the results Sukhu claimed that six Congress MLAs had been ‘kidnapped’ and taken to Haryana.

The manner in which things have unfolded leave many questions, as well as pointers towards the path being taken by Indian democracy, as well as the state of the Congress party. The cross voting by the Congress MLAs amounts to cheating the electorate that had voted for them on the basis of the Congress’ promises, and not for eventually joining the BJP.

“It is a pity that we will now be put in the category of states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and others where politicians are known to be rank opportunists. The innocent people of the state have been cheated,” a senior political observer said.

But the bigger issue is the failure of the Congress party as well as Sukhu on various fronts. To begin with Himachal was a state that had given a fresh lease of life to the Congress party in 2022 when its fortunes were tumbling downhill all across the country. Instead of building on that victory, the advantage was squandered.

“The state is missing a leader having the stature of Virbhadra Singh today who could troubleshoot and manage things effectively,” was a common refrain from various people.

It is being pointed out that the Congress high command failed to strike a delicate balance, between regions and factions, which is crucial for Himachal Pradesh politics. It went ahead choosing a CM as well as his deputy from lower Himachal. It was from this region that the party MLAs cross voted.

There were many indications over the last several months that things were not going smoothly for the party. Virbhadra’s wife and state Congress chief Pratibha Singh had claimed that importance was not being given to the organisation, and that it needed to be ensured that workers do not feel isolated. She had said that she was not taken into confidence on the celebrations of the party completing one year in office in the state.

A strong indication on the state of affairs had come from the elections to the posts of mayor and deputy mayor in Solan Municipal Corporation held a couple of months ago. The BJP had won the post of the deputy mayor despite the Congress having a majority in the house along with the vote cast by its legislator. The post of mayor was won by a party dissident who had contested against the official candidate fielded by the party.

More recently there were rumblings of discontent coming from Dharamshala MLA Sudhir Sharma and Sujanpur legislator Rajinder Rana. While Sharma was a close confidant of Virbhadra, Rana had shot to limelight in 2017 after defeating former BJP chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal. Both of them have been miffed at not finding a place in the Sukhu cabinet.

Sharma has reportedly refused to contest the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls from the Kangra seat saying how could he be a good candidate for the Lok Sabha if he is not good enough to be added in the state cabinet? Rana amid speculations on soon joining the BJP had said on Monday that he was no longer interested in a ministerial berth.

After the results were announced, Jairam tweeted, “Hearty congratulations to State BJP's Rajya Sabha MP candidate Shri Harsh Mahajan ji on being elected to Rajya Sabha from Himachal Pradesh. You will definitely benefit greatly from your experience and you will raise important issues of Himachal prominently in the Parliament.

This victory is the victory of hopes of all the workers, best wishes to Harsh Mahajan ji for this new responsibility. Congratulations to Prime Minister Modi ji, National President Nadda ji and all the senior leaders and workers of BJP on this victory.”

Talking to the media persons he demanded Sukhu's resignation stating that the latter has lost the moral right to continue in office. He also thanked the Congress MLAs who crossvoted along with the three independents for listening to their inner conscience and voting for Mahajan on moral grounds.

In the run up to the polls the BJP had been portraying Singhvi as an outsider pitted against native Mahajan even as Nadda himself has been chosen from Gujarat.

Referring to the events that led to his loss, Singhvi in an apparent reference to the BJP said, "The message is that we will shamelessly do that which is not in accordance with the law. If you think that one, two or nine were all of a sudden influenced by a new policy or thought or ideology after yesterday's dinner and today's breakfast` we are living in a fool's paradise."

He said this change is unfortunate both for India and particularly for Himachal Pradesh whose people are not accustomed to such culture. "If this is the definition of new India I would prefer old India," he said as he went on to quote an Urdu couplet, "Palat ke aaoonga shaakh pe khushboo lekar, Khiza ki jad hoon main mausam zara badalne do...(I will return with fragrance on the branches, let the weather change)”.

Sukhu also stated that those Congress MLAs who cross voted had sold their souls. "They had come after defeating the BJP in their respective areas and they voted against the party's official candidate. Do you think it was a vote of anger? It is a vote that you all are well aware of," he said.

He said that 34 MLAs who had stood by the party despite allurements that they could not even imagine have demonstrated honesty, morality and character.