Himachal CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu resigns amid Congress rebellion

Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, the chief minister of Himachal Pradesh, reportedly tendered his resignation on Wednesday. In the midst of a political crisis following the rebellion of six MLAs against the party and the resignation of state Cabinet minister Vikramaditya Singh, he tendered his resignation to Congress observers who had hurried to the state.

After an important meeting of Congress MLAs later today, a new head of the Legislative Party is expected to be elected.

The event occurred just hours after the ruling Congress, which had a majority, was humiliatingly defeated in the Rajya Sabha elections.

Jairam Thakur, a BJP leader and LoP, stated that CM Sukhu need to step down since he has lost the majority of votes.

Six MLAs crossed over to support the BJP candidate in the Rajya Sabha elections, exposing the online divide inside the Himachal Pradesh administration.

Vikramaditya Singh, the son of former chief minister Virbhadra Singh and a PWD minister, resigned from the state cabinet earlier today. Singh said that MLAs' voices were being muffled and that he had alerted the party hierarchy to this situation.

“I have always respected the leadership and the CM and contributed toward running the government with due discipline…There were from some quarters attempts to humiliate me in my functioning as a cabinet minister…I respect the CM but there has to be coordination among the council of ministers… This is a breach of trust, something that has led to where we are standing today,” said Singh.

It's interesting to note that Vikramaditya Singh defied the party line and went to the Ayodhya Ram Mandir consecration event on January 22.

In the meanwhile, to address the situation, the Congress has flown senior leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda and deputy chief minister of Karnataka, DK Shivakumar, to Himachal Pradesh.

“As per the directions of the Congress high command, I am reaching Himachal Pradesh. Also there is absolutely no need to indulge in any hearsay, as I am confident that Congress Party legislators will be loyal to the party and stay put with the mandate that has been accorded to them,” Shivakumar said.

He also questioned the BJP’s alleged attempts at acquiring power by crushing the public mandate.

“However, what should be questioned and worrisome is the extremes to which BJP is going in terms of acquiring power, deliberately attempting to crush democracy and public mandate in the process,” the troubleshooter Congress leader said.