Sukhwinder Sukhu, Pratibha Singh and Jairam Thakur
After the setback in the Rajya Sabha elections, Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu’s 3 bids have again changed the politics of Himachal and Congress. After Abhishek Manu Singhvi’s defeat there was much speculation about Sukhwinder Sukhu’s position, but after 3 months with changed equations and circumstances, Sukhu has now emerged as the strongest leader in Congress and Himachal.
After the results of the by-elections, on one hand, the Congress has returned to the 2022 figures, on the other hand, the seat of Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu is also considered safe from this result. According to the Election Commission, in the by-elections held on 3 seats in Himachal Pradesh, Congress has won 2 seats and BJP has won one seat. These three seats were previously held by independent MLAs.
Sukhu’s 3 innings changed Himachal Pradesh’s game
1. Cancellation of membership of 6 MLAs- 7 Congress MLAs rebelled in the Rajya Sabha elections, but finally Chintapurni MLA Sudarshan Bablu returned. The remaining 6 MLAs stopped picking up the Chief Minister’s phone. Sukhu made an action plan as soon as he got in touch with the MLAs.
The absence of these MLAs became a big opportunity for the government as the budget session was underway. On the recommendation of the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, the Speaker immediately dismissed the 6 MLAs. Most of the six dismissed MLAs belonged to the Pratibha Singh group. There were grumblings about this in the party, but with the help of the high command, Sukhu managed to get this done.
2. Resignation of independent accepted after election- Seeing the withdrawal of membership of 6 Congress MLAs, an independent MLA also resigned. The main reason behind his resignation was the assembly by-elections along with the Lok Sabha. These MLAs felt that if they resigned and fought on the BJP symbol, they too would benefit from the mood in the Lok Sabha.
However, the Speaker did not immediately accept the resignation of these three independent MLAs. On June 1, the voting for the assembly by-election was held. Subsequently, the resignations of these MLAs were accepted. It was said at the time that Sukhu had accepted the resignation to mend the equation.
The Congress had 34 of the 62 seats in Himachal before the results of the by-elections. The Congress government has moved to the safe side after accepting the resignation of 3 MLAs.
3. Wife made candidate from Dehra seat- In Himachal, the three constituencies for which by-elections were announced due to the resignation of independent MLAs include Nalagarh, Hamirpur and Dehra. Sukhu’s in-laws house is also in Kangra’s Dehra Assembly. He fielded his wife Kamlesh Thakur here for emotional support.
BJP made Hoshiar Singh its candidate from here. Sukhu remained firm throughout the election and benefited from it. Sukhu’s wife has won the election from Dehra seat by more than 9 thousand votes.
Sukhu’s chair will be secured till 2027, 4 points
1. Himachal has 68 assembly seats. In 2022, Congress won 40 seats and BJP won 25 seats. Independents won 3 seats. Now after 2 by-elections the equations being created are like 2022 for Congress. The Congress strength in the Assembly has again touched 40, which is 5 more than the majority.
2. By-elections have been held in 9 seats in Himachal in the last 2 months, out of which the Congress has won 6 i.e. the strike rate of victory is 66 percent. Sukhu’s face was at stake in all the seats that the Congress won. In such a situation, this is now being considered as a relief for Sukhu.
3. According to the new equations that are being formed after the by-elections, there are no more MLAs left from the Pratibha group in the Congress. Not only this, recently his son Vikramaditya also lost the election from Mandi Lok Sabha seat. In such a situation Pratibha will hardly be able to exert political pressure.
4. So far, the party has not changed the chief ministers in the states where the Congress has revolted. Rajasthan and Karnataka are good examples of this. In such a situation, there is also a discussion in Himachal that Sukhu will not change now.
