Himachal Pradesh: Situation completely under control, says Congress

Himachal Pradesh chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has "accepted responsibility" for Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi's defeat in the Rajya Sabha polls, the party's central observer and Karnataka deputy chief minister D.K. Shivakumar said on Thursday.

Shivakumar also said the central observers have spoken to Sukhu, party MLAs, and state unit chief Pratibha Singh and "all differences have been ironed out".

Addressing the media in Shimla along with party observer Bhupinder Hooda, Shivakumar said after one-to-one meetings with the Congress MLAs and deliberations with Sukhu and Singh, differences have been ironed out. He also said it has been decided to form a coordination committee to sort out all internal matters, and no leader will go to the press.

In a post on X, Congress MP and general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh also asserted that the situation in Himachal Pradesh is "completely under control" and the BJP has failed in its attempts to "destabilise the elected government" in the hill state.

CM Sukhu also posted on X in Hindi, saying, "Ever since we started solving people's problems, the BJP has been indulging in cheap politics to topple the government by some conspiracy or other. But let me assure you that this government will last for full a five years."

The Congress government in the state faced a crisis after the party lost the state's lone Rajya Sabha seat despite having the requisite numbers in the Assembly, owing to cross-voting by some of its own MLAs, who are now siding with the BJP. The six MLAS who cross-voted have been disqualified by the speaker and are likely to challenge their disqualification from the House.

Ramesh said like other states, the BJP started the game of using money power, power of the government, and muscle power to destabilise the Congress government in Himachal Pradesh, but has failed.

"Various things are going around in the media regarding Himachal Pradesh. But we want to say one thing very clearly. The prime minister and the so-called 'Chanakya' have completely failed in Himachal. After the intervention of the Congress leadership and the promptness of our observers, the situation there is completely under the control of the Congress," he said in a post in Hindi on X.

"Like several other states, the BJP had started the game of money power, power of government and muscle power in Himachal Pradesh too to destabilise the Congress government elected by the people with absolute majority. But they failed because the blessings of the people of Himachal are with the Congress. After this incident our resolve has become stronger. We will continue to serve the people of Himachal Pradesh," the Congress leader said.

In a major upset, the BJP on Tuesday won the Rajya Sabha seat, with its candidate Harsh Mahajan defeating Congress stalwart Abhishek Manu Singhvi and apparently setting the stage for a no-trust motion in the Assembly.

The Congress had 40 MLAs in the 68-member Himachal Pradesh Assembly, while the BJP has 25 legislators. The remaining three seats are held by independents.