Riding high on his and his party’s stunning victory in the lone Rajya Sabha seat in Himachal Pradesh, BJP leader Harsh Mahajan has declared that the Congress is a “gone case” and its government in the state will “fall very soon”. 

In an exclusive interview with NDTV on Wednesday, Mr Mahajan said that apart from the six Congress MLAs that cross-voted in the Rajya Sabha election on Tuesday, at least ten more legislators are in touch with him and are likely to make the switch to the BJP soon. For the Congress, Mr Mahajan’s remarks will sting even more because he was a long-time member of the party and had quit just ahead of the Assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh in 2022.

Fighting an uphill battle, the BJP won the Rajya Sabha election in the state on Tuesday despite having just 25 MLAs in the 68-member Assembly, against the Congress’ 40. It was helped by a draw of lots going in its favour after a tie. 

Attributing his victory to the Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu government’s performance in the state and the people and legislators’ “annoyance” with it, Mr Mahajan said, “I have been a part of Himachal politics for 45 years. I was in the Congress for a long time and joined the BJP about three years ago. So I know people from both parties very well. The discontentment among the Congress MLAs gave me a reason to speak to them and I am grateful to them for supporting me.”

Asked about the resignation as minister of Vikramaditya Singh, son of late Congress leader and former chief minister Virbhadra Singh, Mr Mahajan – who was known to be close to the leader – said, “There is so much discontentment, and the final outcome will be the fall of the government as soon as possible. Decisions like the Speaker suspending BJP MLAs are delay tactics. The final outcome, which will come very soon, will be the fall of this government.”

Pointing out that six Congress MLAs and three Independents had voted for him, Mr Mahajan claimed he is in touch with at least 10 more legislators from the party who are willing to join the BJP. 

On whether the Congress Rajya Sabha candidate, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, being an ‘outsider’ played a role in his victory, the BJP leader said, “I know every MLA closely and I have groomed many of them. The fact that I am a son of the soil helped me. I think the people of Himachal Pradesh put the pressure on the MLAs that they needed.”

To a question on whether the Congress sending crisis managers like Karnataka Deputy Chief  Minister DK Shivakumar and former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda will help, Mr Mahajan pointed to factionalism within the party and said there are many contenders for the chief minister’s post.

In a sharp attack on his former party, the BJP leader said, “This (the leaders’ intervention) is not going to work. The Congress party has been dismantled from the Centre to the states. Everybody has faith in PM Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and JP Nadda. The Congress is a gone case now. I think it is the beginning of the end for the Congress in the states as well.”

Mr Mahajan said the consecration of the Ram Temple last month has also helped the BJP in Himachal, which, he said, is a “98% Hindu state”. 

The Congress began Wednesday with its government in Himachal Pradesh – one of only three states it controls on its own – teetering on the edge, thanks to a shock (although not entirely unpredictable) defeat in yesterday’s Rajya Sabha election that, it was claimed, had eroded its House majority.

The Congress finished Wednesday with an unlikely stay of execution; it retains power for now, at least till after the general election which will span two-three months – thanks to the strategic expulsion today of 15 MLAs from the opposition BJP, including LoP Jairam Thakur, and passing of the state budget.

The 15 were expelled immediately after the Assembly’s budget session began, ostensibly for sloganeering and misconduct, including rushing into the Speaker’s chambers, charges for which the BJP, in power at the centre, has regularly expelled or suspended opposition parliamentarians.

“The BJP members were not in their seats… they raised slogans and were trying to create an atmosphere where they could attack me. I asked them to sit but they didn’t listen,” the Speaker said.

#WATCH | Shimla: On suspension of 15 MLAs from the Himachal Pradesh Assembly, Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania says, “The proposal was brought by the Parliamentary affairs minister. Because what happened yesterday was unexpected… The BJP members were not in their seats… They… pic.twitter.com/PNVRikoGoW

— ANI (@ANI) February 28, 2024

How did expelling 15 rival lawmakers help the Congress?

It handed the beleaguered ruling party a working majority in the Assembly and allowed it to pass the state budget without contest, since the BJP’s 10 remaining MLAs walked out in protest.

“The budget was passed today, and the conspiracy to topple our government has been foiled. Our government will complete five years…” a grim-faced Chief Minister Sukhvinder Sukhu said.

By passing the budget, the Chief Minister has protected his government from any immediate test, particularly since the BJP must now file a legal challenge to counter Speaker Kuldeep Pathania’s expulsion of its lawmakers, and that, one can be sure, will be drawn out by the Congress.

Mr Sukhu also underlined his determination to ride out this turbulence.

READ | “Haven’t Resigned”: Himachal Chief Minister Dismisses Rumours

“Neither (has) anyone asked for my resignation nor have I presented my resignation to anyone. We will prove our majority. We will win…” he said, accusing the BJP of “spreading rumours” to break the party.

The passing of the budget sans opposition as a tactical move was underlined by Mr Thakur.

“BJP has 25 MLAs. That number increased to 34 after Rajya Sabha voting (Mr Thakur here counts on the six Congress MLAs who have yet to officially join the BJP and three independent lawmakers). This created a danger. They had to pass the budget somehow, or the government would fall,” he said.

READ | Congress Has “Lost Majority” In Himachal: Jairam Thakur

“For this, they had to decrease the number of BJP MLAs. 15, including me, have been suspended. We were suspended to save the Congress government. After our suspension, they passed the budget.”

Expelling the BJP MLAs was also a pre-emptive strike on its plan to force the Congress into a floor test. Removing 15 lawmakers from the 68-member House drops the majority mark to just 27.

NDTV Explains | Congress Or BJP? Who Has Edge In Himachal Pradesh?

The Congress, even after the likely loss of six MLAs – those who cross-voted in Tuesday’s Rajya Sabha election, triggering all of this furore – would have had enough to sail through a no-trust motion.

The party won 40 seats in the 2022 election.

That, of course, was assuming it does not lose any more of its strength.

In any event, that possibility was never put to a test, since the uncharacteristically decisive move by the Congress’ state unit caught the BJP by surprise, and allowed it to buy crucial time to regroup.

With input from agencies

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A newspaper ad hailing the creation of a second launch pad for India’s space agency ISRO – in Tamil Nadu’s Kulsekarapatinam – has triggered a furious row after what an image of the Chinese flag figured prominently on the rocket in the poster. The ad was commissioned by Tamil Nadu’s Animal Husbandry Minister Anitha Radhakrishnan, who did so in his personal capacity, NDTV was told.

Mr Radhakrishnan has been unavailable for comment, but Thoothukudi MP Kanimozhi (in whose constituency the ISRO facility will be built) has defended her party. She acknowledged the error – attributed to the artwork designer – and said the issue does not merit the backlash it has received.

The poster itself shows Prime Minister Narendra Modi – who was in the state, one in which his Bharatiya Janata Party has traditionally struggled for votes, this week to drum up support before the general election – and Chief Minister MK Stalin side-by-side, with a rocket in the background.

The source of the controversy is that rocket – its red nose features four golden stars arced around the right side of a larger fifth star. This is the same emblem that marks the Chinese national flag.

Mr Modi and the BJP have been quick to pounce on the error.

The PM ripped into the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, which thumped the BJP (then allied with the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) in 2019 general and 2021 state elections.

READ | “Crossed Limits”: PM Hits Out At DMK In “China Rocket” Ad Row

“DMK does not do work and takes false credit. They paste their stickers on our schemes. But now they have crossed the limit… they pasted China’s sticker to take credit for the ISRO launchpad…”

“They are not ready to accept India’s progress in the space sector. They do not want to present India’s space success to the world. They have insulted our scientists and our space sector.”

READ | As India Gets Its Second Space Port, Rocket Startups Excited

“Now it is high time the DMK is punished for their deeds,” the Prime Minister thundered.

Mr Modi’s sharp attacks have been amplified by the BJP’s state unit boss, K Annamalai, who posted a long and emotive post on X, in which he slammed his rival’s “total disregard for our country’s sovereignty” and labelled the rocket issue a “manifestation of DMK’s commitment to China”.

This advertisement by DMK Minister Thiru Anita Radhakrishnan to leading Tamil dailies today is a manifestation of DMK’s commitment to China & their total disregard for our country’s sovereignty.

DMK, a party flighing high on corruption, has been desperate to paste stickers ever… pic.twitter.com/g6CeTzd9TZ

— K.Annamalai (@annamalai_k) February 28, 2024

“On a day when the PM is in Tamil Nadu… a DMK minister gives out a newspaper ad with a Chinese rocket, and Kanimozhi, a senior MP, defends it, saying, ‘What is wrong in having a Chinese picture?'”

The DMK MP had said, “I don’t think India has declared China an ‘enemy country’. The PM invited Chinese PM (Xi Jinping) and they went to Mamallapuram (a historic temple town near Chennai). You (the BJP) don’t want to accept the truth and so are finding reasons to divert the issue,” she said.

“DMK wants to stop the rocket-launching facility from coming here. And, for that, they are going to any end to please their (Chinese) masters. When India is celebrating… we have DMK glorifying China, Chinese people, and their flag. We expect a bare minimum apology…” Mr Annamalai ranted.

With input from agencies

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