Himachal Rajya Sabha Election 2024: Singhvi's loss leaves Sukhu government on the brink

Abhishek Singhvi would have won easily had all 40 Congress MLAs voted for him.

In a huge blow to the ruling Congress in Himachal Pradesh, its candidate Abhishek Singhvi lost the only Rajya Sabha seat in the hill state to Harsh Mahajan of the BJP, as six of its MLAs voted for the rival candidate, putting a question mark on the survival of the state government.

The BJP pulled off an improbable win despite having only 25 MLAs in the 68-member assembly. According to reports, the Congress had issued a whip to its MLAs to vote for Singhvi, a senior party leader and a New Delhi-based lawyer. The BJP had slammed the ruling party for allegedly pressuring its members by issuing the whip, which it said was against the spirit of the Rajya Sabha polls.

What led to Singhvi’s loss?

As both candidates got 34 seats, it meant that the Congress was one short of the majority mark. The Congress has 40 MLAs and the support of three independents.

Dharamshala MLA Sudhir Sharma, Gagret's Chaitanya Sharma, Kutlehar's Devender Bhutto, Badsar's Inder Dutt Lakhanpal and Sujanpur legislator Rajender Rana defied the party whip to support Mahajan.

Three independent MLAs — Hamirpur's Ashish Sharma, Dehra's Hoshiyar Singh and Nalagarh's KL Thakur — voted for Mahajan as well.

With both Singhvi and Mahajan tied at 34 each, the winner was decided by a draw of lots. A Rajya Sabha tie is resolved through what is known as the eliminator system. The person whose name is written on the chit which is picked is eliminated.

Singhvi would have scored an easy win had all the party MLAs voted for him. Speaking after the results were declared, Singhvi told the media, “Any party fielding a candidate when it has just 25 MLAs and the government has the support of 43 sends out only one message - that they (BJP) are planning to do something that the law does not allow. And I am not talking about Mr Mahajan or this election alone, I am talking about the principle.”

Singhvi’s loss leave government on the brink

An upbeat BJP has called for a floor test, claiming that Chief Minister Sukhvinder Sukhu had lost the majority.

The government will face a test when a motion to pass the budget comes up for discussion on February 28, as the BJP has insisted on a division of votes. The 2024-25 budget will be out to vote on February 29.

Himachal Pradesh is the only north Indian state ruled by the Congress. The outcome of the Rajya Sabha polls in Himachal and UP have dealt a blow to the opposition INDIA bloc as the Congress ally SP suffered a setback in Uttar Pradesh where seven of its lawmakers cross-voted in favour of the BJP candidate.

"The BJP will establish its government in the state, with additional Congress MLAs reaching out to us. I've received calls from several of their legislators and ministers. Anticipate a shift in the situation within the next few hours, resulting in the BJP assuming governance. The forecast suggests that Congress is unlikely to regain power in this region for the next 10-20 years," Harsh Mahajan told ANI.