New Delhi, Feb 28 (UNI) Facing a looming crisis in Himachal Pradesh, the Congress on Wednesday ruled out replacing the state chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu as of now, saying party president Mallikarjun Kharge has constituted a team of observers that will submit its report at the earliest.
Addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters here, senior party leader Jairam Ramesh said no decision on Sukhu's future will be taken until a report is submitted by the team.
The Congress president has constituted a team for Himachal Pradesh comprising Bhupesh Baghel, DK Shivakumar and Bhupinder Hooda.
He said Kharge has asked the team to talk to all the MLAs, listen to their concerns and grievances, and file a report at the earliest.
Ramesh said, “Our priority is to save the party and the massive mandate the people of Himachal Pradesh gave to Congress in December 2022.”
“The people’s mandate should be respected. The people of Himachal Pradesh have rejected Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP President J. P. Nadda, and Anurag Thakur," he said.
Ramesh also hinted that some strong decisions may also be taken, but only after the report has been submitted.
Ramesh said the party is supreme and, above all, the people’s mandate, and a decision will be taken only after the team submits its report.
On cross-voting during Tuesday's Rajya Sabha elections in the state that led to the BJP candidate Harsh Mahajan defeating senior Congress leader and renowned advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Ramesh said as per the mandate, the lone seat for the upper House of Parliament should have gone to the Congress. However, due to cross-voting, the Congress candidate lost the election.
He added that all these issues would also be looked into.
Ramesh also accused the central government of not providing any assistance to the state when it was hit by a natural calamity in 2023.
Meanwhile, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said on X that the public has the right to choose the government. And the people of Himachal Pradesh have given their mandate to Congress. The way the BJP is using government agencies, money, and machinery to crush the Himachal Pradesh government is unprecedented in the history of the country.
She said that if a party with 25 MLAs is challenging a majority government with 43 MLAs, it clearly means that it is resorting to horse-trading and bringing down an elected government.
UNI RBE GNK SSP/GNK