Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu addresses the media after a meeting with Himachal Pradesh Assembly Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania at the Vidhan Sabha, in Shimla, Friday, March. 1, 2024.
Credit: PTI Photo
Shimla: Pressure tactics, such as targeting businesses of Independent MLAs and their families, are deemed futile and will not salvage the government, stated two Independents who voted against the Congress in the recent Rajya Sabha polls in Himachal Pradesh.
Speaking to PTI on Sunday, K L Thakur, Independent MLA from Nalagarh, remarked, "It is unfortunate that the chief minister has stooped to such a level, and this kind of politics has never been witnessed in Himachal Pradesh."
"I have been a former BJP legislator and had been associated with the party for years. I voted according to my ideology," he asserted.
The Independent MLAs -- K L Thakur (Nalagarh), Hoshiyar Singh (Dehra), and Ashish Sharma (Hamirpur) -- were among the nine MLAs who voted in favour of BJP candidate Harsh Mahajan in the Rajya Sabha election for the lone seat from the state on August 27.
The MLAs supporting the Congress candidate Abhishek Manu Singhvi failed to reach the half-way mark in the 68-member House.
The Independent MLAs in the state allege that raids were conducted at their business firms and Congress workers burnt their effigies.
They further allege that the road leading to the house of Congress rebel and MLA Lahaul and Spiti Ravi Thakur was closed after he cross-voted against his party.
"The chief minister should not adopt a vindictive attitude and should refrain from acting out of vengeance," remarked Hoshiyar Singh, Independent MLA from Dehra, to PTI.
"We have the right to vote and have voted in the interest of the state," he added, condemning the actions of the Congress government.
"Not even a single work was done in my assembly segment in the past one year, and I had stopped giving the demi-official (DO) notes for the past eight months," Singh further stated.
Following the disqualification of the rebel Congress MLAs, the effective strength of the House has reduced from 68 to 62, while the number of Congress MLAs has shrunk from 40 to 34.
The BJP holds 25 MLAs, and the remaining three are Independents.