Amid the political uncertainty in Himachal Pradesh, state Congress chief Pratibha Singh on Friday asserted that the Bharatiya Janata Party's work is better than that of the grand old party.
Protestors demanding the demolition of an illegal structure in a mosque in Shimla's Sanjauli area were lathi-charged by security forces on Wednesday after they broke police barricades during a demonstration.
Considered close to former chief minister Virbhadra Singh, he had served as the state's industry minister.
The Congress top brass on Wednesday rushed former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and DK Shivakumar to Shimla to parley with members of the party which is facing loss of support and risks losing power in the state.
Later, Pratibha Singh said she and her son Vikramaditya Singh have received a joint invitation and she is yet to take a call on attending the consecration ceremony at Ayodhya on January 22.
The erstwhile royals of Himachal Pradesh, who once commanded their own space in politics, are losing their charm as only two of them won in the state polls this time while two others lost at the hustings.
In a jolt to the ruling Congress in Himachal Pradesh, state party chief and Mandi MP Pratibha Singh on Wednesday announced that she has decided not to contest the Lok Sabha elections as the ground situation was "not favourable" and workers were disheartened.
Nath's resignation was accepted by party president Sonia Gandhi keeping in view the party's 'one person-one post' policy.
Mukesh Agnihotri, the leader of opposition in the outgoing assembly, was administered the oath as the deputy chief minister.
The political crisis arose in Himachal Pradesh during the recently held polling for the Rajya Sabha elections as nine MLAs, including six Congress rebels and three independents, voted in favour of BJP candidate Harsh Mahajan.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi also appointed Harsh Mahajan, Rajender Rana, Pawan Kajal and Vinay Kumar as the new working presidents of the Himachal Pradesh PCC.
With the Congress emerging victorious in Himachal Pradesh, state party president Pratibha Singh is considered a key frontrunner for the chief minister's post, closely followed by former party chief Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu and outgoing Congress Legislature Party leader Mukesh Agnihotri.
The announcement from the Congress lawmaker brought fore cracks in the party, which on Tuesday lost the sole Rajya Sabha seat to the Bharatiya Janata Party and is apparently scrambling to keep its members together to prevent the fall of its government.
Rebel Himachal Pradesh Congress MLA Rajinder Rana on Saturday claimed that nine more party legislators 'feeling suffocated' due to Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu's style of functioning are in touch with him as he called the chief minister 'liar number one'.
Saturday's voting will mark the end to the marathon polling process that began on April 19 month and has already covered 486 Lok Sabha seats in 28 states and Union territories.
In a statement, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh questioned the motive behind the inauguration of the "incomplete" temple by the leaders of the BJP and the RSS.
The Congress rebels are seeking to install a person of their choice as the new chief minister of the state.
The one-year-old Himachal Pradesh Cabinet headed by Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu was expanded on Tuesday with the induction of Rajesh Dharmani and Yadvinder Goma as cabinet ministers.
Some of our leaders were busybusy over the weekend.
'The Congress government is on its way out in Himachal Pradesh.'
'Putra-moh Congress ko nasht kar raha hai (Sonia Gandhi's love for Rahul Gandhi is destroying the Congress).'
The action comes two days after Congress president Sonia Gandhi held a key meeting and broke the ice by starting dialogue with some of the prominent 'letter-writers', who had earlier written to her demanding an overhaul of the party and an effective leadership.
The BJP launched an all-out and aggressive personalised campaign led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself, but voters went by local rather than national issues.
He joined the BJP in the presence of Union minister Piyush Goyal and lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership for providing a "strong government".
The outgoing BJP government had 12 cabinet ministers, including Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur.
With the induction of seven members, the strength of the cabinet rose to nine.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday said the views of the newly-elected MLAs in Himachal Pradesh were being sought to bring out a consensus on who will be their leader.
Allocation of portfolios would be the immediate vexatious issue for the party, with supporters of Virbhadra Singh already feeling sidelined after the elevation of the late chief minister's professed rival Sukhu.
As per the orders issued on Monday by the chief secretary, appointments of all chairman, vice-chairman, and nominated members in boards and corporations, autonomous bodies, cooperative institutions and other committees, including temple committees and urban local bodies be terminated forthwith.
The Congress won 40 seats in the 68-member Himachal Pradesh assembly while the BJP got 25 seats.
What some of our leaders were up to on Monday, December 12.
The swearing-in ceremony of the new ministers would take place at the Raj Bhavan in Shimla on January 8 at 10 am, the sources said on Saturday.
"There are people who get converted and do not disclose that they have converted. They take double benefits," RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale said at a press conference."
What some of our leaders were up to on Monday and Tuesday.
Well ahead of the November 12 assembly elections, the BJP projected Thakur as the next chief minister.
As trends indicated a comfortable win for the grand old party in Himachal Pradesh, Shukla said the party was happy that it is getting an opportunity to form the government in the state and asserted that the party will do everything to fulfill the 10 guarantees made to the people of the state and would provide better governance to people.
The Himachal Pradesh government on Friday introduced a bill in the state assembly to enhance the punishment and add a specific mention of "mass conversion" in an existing law that forbids change of religion through force or allurement.
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh has been quizzed and his statement recorded by the Central Bureau of Investigation in connection with alleged kickbacks made to him and State Trading Corporation employees by some private companies.
"For me, it is like homecoming," said the 93-year-old who returned for the second time to the Congress which he had last left ahead of the 2017 assembly elections to join the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The Home Ministry may play the role of mediator between the BCCI and the Himachal Pradesh government, which expressed its inability to provide security to the India-Pakistan World Twenty20 match scheduled to be held in Dharamsala on March 19. Home Ministry officials said there is a need to sort out the differences between after state Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh wrote a letter to Home Minister Rajnath Singh stating that his government cannot provide security for the match. "It is a matter of concern that Himachal Pradesh government expressed its inability to provide security to the match. It is an event involving players of two countries. We will try to convince the state government," an official said.
