Not resigned, govt will complete full five-year term: Himachal CM

Shimla, Feb 28: Amid political crisis, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Wednesday said that he has not resigned and the Congress government would complete its full five-year term.

After reports that Sukhu has offered to quit, the Himachal Chief Minister said, “I haven’t offered any resignation. I am a warrior, will keep fighting.” He asserted that the Congress party will remain in power in the state for five years.

On his Cabinet colleague Vikramaditya Singh’s resignation, Sukhu said, “He is my brother. He has some grievances and he has talked to me many times. Will sort it out.”

Meanwhile, the Congress Legislative Party is set to meet here in the evening. The party has also asked the oberservers to speak to all MLAs in the state and prepare a comprehensive report on the crisis.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh told the media in Delhi that the party's priority was to save its government in Himachal Pradesh.

“Right now, our priority is to save our Congress government because the Congress party had received a clear mandate in December 2022. The people of Himachal Pradesh had rejected the PM, Jagat Prakash Nadda, Anurag Thakur, and Jai Ram Thakur. The mandate was for the Congress party. So, this mandate should be respected,” he said.

“The Modi government has just one guarantee -- topple all Congress Governments. We will not let this happen,” he added.

In a stunning upset a day earlier, six Congress MLAs cross voted in the poll for lone Rajya Sabha seat. Those who voted in favour of the BJP’s candidate were Sudhir Sharma (Dharamsala) and Rajinder Rana (Sujanpur), both ministerial aspirants; Inder Dutt Lakhanpal (Badsar); Ravi Thakur (Lahaul-Spiti); Chaitnaya Sharma (Gagret); and Devender Bhutto (Kutlehar). The three Independent MLAs too voted in favour of the BJP.

With this, the Congress has a strength of 34 MLAs, the same number as the BJP.