The Congress’ Punjab leader, Navjot Singh Sidhu, this morning launched a strong attack on six party lawmakers who cross-voted in Tuesday’s Rajya Sabha election – handing the party a defeat in an exercise it should have won with ease – and then appeared to ally with the Bharatiya Janata Party.

The shock Rajya Sabha loss has triggered a political crisis in the hill state – in which the Congress cantered to a win less than two years ago – with the BJP now demanding that Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu’s depleted government prove its strength in the 68-member House.

“Himachal fiasco calls for an assessment of assets and liabilities for the ‘Grand Old Party’…”

Mr Sidhu then ripped into “‘masqueraders’… covertly dancing to the tunes of agencies like CBI, ED…” and declared the Congress well-rid of leaders who “prioritise personal gain over the collective good”.

“‘Masqueraders’ (for) plum posts, covertly dancing to the tunes of agencies like Central Bureau of Investigation, Enforcement Directorate, and Income Tax Department, have spelt doomsday for us many-a-times!” the former India cricketer posted on X.

The Himachal fiasco calls for an assessment of assets and liabilities for The Grand Old Party ??? …. “Masqueraders” on plum posts covertly dancing to the tunes of agencies like CBI, ED and IT have spelt dooms day for us many a times !

The loss is not @DrAMSinghvi Sahb’s but…

— Navjot Singh Sidhu (@sherryontopp) February 28, 2024

“The loss is not Dr Abhishek Manu Singhvi saheb‘s but larger… It is essential to purge the party of those who prioritise personal gain over the collective good, for their actions inflict profound wounds on the party’s very existence. The wounds might heal but the mental scars will remain…”

“Their gain is the Congress worker’s biggest pain. Loyalty is not everything but the only thing!!!”

The Congress’ Himachal Situation

On Tuesday evening, as whispers of cross-voting by Congress MLAs turned into reality, the sole Rajya Sabha seat vacant in this round of polling slithered out of the party’s grasp and into the BJP’s pocket.

Six MLAs voted against the party line and the Congress , which till then thought it held 40 of the Assembly’s 68 seats, was left wondering exactly what happened. And then came a bigger blow.

The BJP – boosted by the six rebels – sought a floor test for Mr Sukhu.

The Congress had 40 MLAs. It is now thought to have only 34.

The BJP had 25 MLAs. It is now thought to have the same number.

The majority mark in the Assembly is 35, making this a potentially explosive crisis.

Sidhu’s Barbs

The cricketer-turned-politician’s sharp comments come amid tension (yet again) between himself and the Congress, after he held rallies across Punjab without clearance from the party’s state unit.

Senior leaders Amarinder Singh Raja Warring and Partap Singh Bajwa have both warned the cricketer-turned-politician, whose run-ins with ex-chief ministers Amarinder Singh and Charanjit Singh Channi were seen as contributing to the party’s heavy defeat in the 2022 election.

READ | Sidhu’s Rallies Bare Congress’s Biggest Punjab Hurdle. It’s Not AAP

The face-off has also sparked speculation Mr Sidhu may be planning a return to the BJP, which he left in 2017. Should he do so, he will join a short but significant list of Congress leaders – which includes Amarinder Singh and former state unit boss Sunil Jakhar – who have crossed the aisle in Punjab.

NDTV is now available on WhatsApp channels. Click on the link to get all the latest updates from NDTV on your chat.

On Wednesday afternoon, under-fire Chief Minister Sukhvinder Sukhu rubbished talk of his resignation. “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 before the budget is tabled.
“They want to create a break in the party. They want Congress MLAs to leave and join them. But Congress is united…” he declared, claiming also that some of his lawmakers who had cross-voted had already reached out, and were trying to return to the fold.
The defiant note comes amid buzz the BJP will force the Congress into a floor test to prove its majority in the 68-member House, in which the majority mark is set at 35.
The Congress had 40 MLAs before the cross-voting. However, if it has lost the six cross-voters, its count slips to 34 – one seat below majority. The BJP had 25 but could now have as many as 34 too, including the independents, making for a dramatic hung House.
Alarmed at the potential loss of another state government, the Congress has rushed three ‘observers’ – Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, ex-Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, and state-in-charge Rajeev Shukla – to defuse the situation.
Senior leader Jairam Ramesh called the cross-voting “unfortunate” and said those responsible would be identified. The priority, though, is to “save the Congress government”, he said, claiming another chapter in ‘Operation Lotus’ – the term used by the opposition when accusing the BJP of conspiring to oust elected governments.
However, there seemed to be subtext in Mr Ramesh’s message to the media that suggested Chief Minister Sukhu might be removed if he doesn’t quit. “We will have to take some difficult decisions and we will not stop short of that,” Jairam Ramesh said.
Meanwhile, across the aisle, the BJP’s Jairam Thakur – who has been leading his party’s charge since the Rajya Sabha poll reversal – demanded Mr Sukhu resign “if he has even a little bit of morality left”. The Congress “does not have a majority”, he said. He also claimed “there can be many others” after saying nine ‘opposition’ MLAs “are with us”.
The numbers game in Himachal Pradesh was further muddied this morning after the Assembly Speaker expelled 15 BJP MLAs for sloganeering and alleged misconduct. This means the effective strength of the House falls to 53 and the effective majority to 27 – which is low enough for the Congress to clear any floor test. However, if it turns out the 15 were only suspended, the Congress would then fail, as the House strength remains 68.
If the Congress does lose Himachal, it will underline the size of the challenge facing it and the INDIA bloc – formed last year to defeat Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his BJP, and led by the party – before a general election due in just a few weeks.

With input from ANI

NDTV is now available on WhatsApp channels. Click on the link to get all the latest updates from NDTV on your chat.

Some labourers who are very much alive and working have been listed as dead to siphon off government money from a scheme in Madhya Pradesh, documents seen by NDTV show.

The Madhya Pradesh Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board gives Rs 2 lakh for funeral arrangement to families if a labourer dies at work or in an accident. Compensation is also given if a registered labourer suffers permanent or partial temporary disability due to a work-related accident.

Many labourers who are still working in the state capital Bhopal, however, have been found to be listed as “dead” on paper, the documents show. Some officials opened fake bank accounts in the names of these workers and made themselves nominees, after which the Rs 2 lakh aid was transferred.

Registered workers in every municipal body in Madhya Pradesh are eligible for this financial assistance.

Of 118 cases, 11 were of labourers who are alive.

Urmila Raikwar, who feeds a family of 12 members, some of them vegetable sellers in Bhopal’s Chandbad neighbourhood, was shocked to see her name in the list of “dead” workers.

Documents seen by NDTV show Ms Raikwar “died” in June 2023 and her family received Rs 2 lakh. Not only this, the nominee was also in her own name.

“This paper says I am dead, and got Rs 2 lakh. But am alive, of course. I haven’t got any money. It’s surprising that even after my death on paper, my children should have got the money. They killed me bhaiya,” says Ms Raikwar.

There are countless other workers who don’t know they are dead in the records kept for financial aid to their families.

Mohammad Qamar, who lives 3 km away from Chandbad, was also listed as “dead” and the money was released on June 21, 2023 to a nominee who has the same name.

“These papers say I am dead, that I have taken the money. The absurdity of a dead person being the nominee aside, I am actually standing here. Am surprised and shocked. I will file a report about these irregularities,” says Mr Qamar.

The welfare board also gives an assistance of Rs 51,000 for marriage. Mr Qamar says he applied for it for his daughter a few years ago, but never got a rupee. “We get an assistance of Rs 51,000 from this card,” he says, showing the card of a registered worker. “But I didn’t get it. This is very sad. I can’t give my documents to anyone now. I don’t trust anyone with my documents,” he says.

And then there are genuine cases of labourers who died in work-related accidents, but their families never got the money.

Leelabai, a resident of Bhopal’s Jahangirabad neighbourhood, says someone withdrew the Rs 2 lakh she was meant to get after her daughter, who was a registered worker, died two years ago.

“After my daughter Mumobai died two years ago, suddenly some people from the municipal corporation came and started asking whether I have taken Rs 2 lakh from the scheme. We haven’t got any money from anyone,” she says.

“The municipal corporation says the money has been withdrawn in the name of our daughter. They are calling and harassing us every day. If we had given our names in any scheme, then our documents and signatures would be there,” she says. “Show the papers to us. Why are we being harassed without any reason? We are already heartbroken after our daughter died,” says Leelabai.

In most of the cases, “e-payment orders” were found to be issued after 11 pm, and the copies of the death certificates were blurred. None of the identities have been linked with updated Aadhaar details. Even the Samagra IDs, an essential document issued by the state government, were created just before the “death” of labourers.

The officials appeared to have targetted only those labourers whose wage diaries, used to track payments, were inactive.

The workers board has helped over 61,200 beneficiaries in case of death, and released Rs 775 crore for funeral and ex-gratia assistance.

The Madhya Pradesh government told NDTV they will investigate the matter.

“If such a fraud has taken place anywhere, it will be investigated and strict action will be taken against whoever is guilty, no one in our government has the right to do such acts, There will be an investigation and the culprits will not be spared, we will not allow the public to be played with and this is the aim of our government,” Deputy Chief Minister Rajendra Shukla told NDTV.