"Safe For Now But...": BJP's Jairam Thakur As Himachal Congress Staves Off Crisis

As the Congress national observers brokered in a truce in Himachal amid fears of a churn at the helm, Leader of Opposition Jairam Thakur on Thursday said the ruling party may have saved the government for now but the chances of survival in the coming days were 'slim'.

Earlier, on Thursday, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivkumar, who was rushed along with other Congress seniors by the high command to call a truce in the hill state, held a press conference saying the government was safe and all MLAs were with the grand old party.

Speaking to news agency ANI, Mr Thakur accused the Assembly Speaker, who earlier suspended 15 BJP MLAs, including the former CM, of behaving like a Congress leader.

The Speaker, on Thursday, disqualified the 6 Congress legislators who cross-voted for the BJP candidate during polling for the lone Rajya Sabha seat from Himachal.

"The Assembly session was scheduled to give over today but ended yesterday itself. The Speaker's conduct during this session was questionable, as he behaved more like a Congress leader. When we demanded the Financial Bill be put to a vote, the House was adjourned. The Budget was presented and passed after 15 of our MLAs were suspended. The suspension of the Opposition members was necessary to pass the Budget, as the ruling party did not have a majority in the House. We discussed all these topics in today's meeting (meeting of BJP MLAs in Himachal)," the LoP said.

On the Congress government dodging a bullet, the former CM said, "The government may be safe for now but there is no chance of survival in the coming days."

Further, on speculations that sulking Congress leader Vikramaditya Singh might be joining the BJP, Mr Thakur said he has to first decide if he wants to continue his membership of a party where he is "insulted time and time again".

"If he (Vikramaditya) is willing to switch, we will take a call after holding consultations with the national leadership," the LoP said.

Invoking the widow of late Congress stalwart and long-time former CM Vir Bhadra Singh, Pratibha Singh, the BJP leader added, "What Pratibha Singh has said is true. This government has suffered a significant decline in its popularity. Everyone knew that the Congress did not have the majority to pass the budget, which is why the Opposition members had to be suspended. Looking at the entire sequence of events over the last few days, it could be said that the Congress has already lost Himachal."

Meanwhile, Congress observer DK Shivakumar on Thursday averted the crisis in Himachal, saying that the Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu government will stay as all the MLAs want a Congress government for 5 years.

He added that a six-member coordination committee was being set up, which will liaise between the ruling party and the state government in a bid to avoid a similar crisis in future.
Shivakumar said all the leaders have taken an oath to work for the party.

"We are sorry that our senior leader (Abhishek Manu Singhvi) lost the Rajya Sabha elections (from Himachal). Our CM has accepted that some failures may have contributed to this (cross-voting). We have spoken with all the MLAs, CM and the PCC chief personally. All differences have been sorted out. They will work together. We are in the process of forming a co-ordination committee of 5-6 members, who will liaise between the party and the government. The PCC president, CM and Deputy CM will be part of the committee. All members have taken an oath that they will work together to make the party strong," Mr Shivakumar said.

CM Sukhwinder Sukhu, who was also a part of the joint press conference, also featuring Pratibha Singh, said, "The sequence of events after the Rajya Sabha elections led to fears that our government was going to fall. The game the BJP played to topple our government has no precedent in the history of Himachal Pradesh.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)