Congress leader DK DK Shivakumar on Thursday said Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu will remain the Chief Minister of Himachal and all the MLAs want the Congress government to rule for 5 years.
Shivakumar, who is in Himachal Pradesh following the political crisis in the state that emerged after 6 'rebel' Congress MLAs voted for the BJP candidate in the Rajya Sabha polls, said there is no "Operation Lotus" in the state.
When asked if CM Sukhu will remain CM for 5 years, Congress observer DK Shivakumar said, "Congress government is there and Sukhu is the CM. All the MLAs want Congress government for 5 years. No operation Lotus here."
Shivakumar further said that all the issues have been sorted out and there is no problem in the Congress-led government in Himachal.
"All is well. This govt will stay for 5 years. All issues have been sorted out. We are hearing all the MLAs. There is no problem in the government," the Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka said after meeting with HP Congress leaders Vikramaditya Singh and Pratibha Singh in Shimla.
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said the rumours about his resignation were highly “condemnable” and it was a tactic deployed by the saffron party to bring down the vote share of the Congress.
“After Rajya Sabha elections everybody started thinking that Himachal Pradesh government is breaking. I also came across news that the chief minister has resigned, which I condemned. This was done to ensure that during final voting our numbers come down," he was quoted as saying by ANI.
Meanwhile, Congress general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh said the BJP started the game of using money power like in other states to destabilise the Congress government in Himachal but failed.
"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.
Earlier today, Himachal Pradesh Assembly Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania disqualified the six MLAs who had cross-voted in the recent Rajya Sabha polls for the lone seat in the state.
In a stunning upset for the ruling Congress in the state, BJP Rajya Sabha candidate Harsh Mahajan defeated Congress stalwart Abhishek Manu Singhvi setting the stage for a no-trust motion in the assembly.