The Congress on Wednesday ruled out replacing the chief minister of Himachal Pradesh at present, saying that 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 that no decision on the chief minister, Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, will be taken until a report is submitted by the team.
The Congress president has constructed a team for Himachal Pradesh consisting of Bhupesh Baghel, DK Shivakumar, and Bhupinder Hooda.
He said that Kharge has asked the team to talk to all the MLAs, listen to their concerns and grievances, and file a report at the earliest.
He said, “Our priority is to save the party and the massive mandate the people of Himachal Pradesh gave to Congress in December 2022.”
He said, “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 also hinted that some strong decisions may also be taken, adding that only after the report has been submitted.
Ramesh said that 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 the Rajya Sabha elections, Ramesh said that, as per the mandate, the lone seat in the Rajya Sabha should have gone to the Congress party, but due to cross-voting, senior Congress leader and renowned advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi lost the election.
He added that all these issues would also be looked into.
He 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 X said that the public has the right to choose the government. And the people of Himachal Pradesh have given their mandates 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.
