Trouble In Congress ‘Paradise’: Why the Himachal Rajya Sabha Shocker Was Waiting To Happen – News18

The last time Harsh Mahajan was seen inside the Congress headquarters in Shimla was in July 2021 — after the death of Virbhadra Singh, the former Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh. That day, Mahajan looked forlorn. Not only because of the loss of his friend and mentor but also because of the realisation that the Congress had little use of him. Eventually, Mahajan parted ways with the party just before the state elections, towards the end of 2022.

After Tuesday’s Rajya Sabha elections, Mahajan is back in political reckoning and how! Fighting the election as a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate, he bagged the lone Rajya Sabha seat in the hill state in what is seen as a big surprise that has put a question mark on the stability of the Congress government of Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu. Mahajan defeated Congress nominee Abhishek Manu Singhvi in a draw or lots after the contest was tied at 34-34. The Congress has 40 MLAs in the 68-member state assembly and enjoys the support of three Independents. But Tuesday’s surprise outcome came on the back of cross-voting by six of its MLAs.

That Mahajan was the wildcard entry of the BJP should have made the Congress take note and buckle up. The 69-year-old former state minister knows the inside out of Himachal politics. Several veteran Congress leaders swear by him and are said to have been in touch with him. In fact, a considerable number of state MLAs say that Mahajan was more open to meeting them than Sukhu.

There were warning signs of the disaster that the Congress faced in the Rajya Sabha polls. One of the most recent examples was when Vikramaditya Singh (son of Virbhadra Singh) expressed his keenness to visit Ayodhya for the January “pran pratistha” ceremony of the Ram Lalla idol, in defiance of the party line. He and his mother Pratibha Singh were said to be unhappy with Sukhu’s coronation as the CM. They were placated by the Gandhis, but discontent simmered among their supporters. In fact, the loyalists of the late Virbhadra Singh expected Pratibha Singh, and not “outsider” Singhvi, to be the Congress nominee in the Rajya Sabha polls.

And much before that, there was trouble surrounding the cabinet formation by Sukhu. The state’s Kangra belt, which gave the Congress 10 MLAs, got only two ministers even as Shimla district got more. Pratibha Singh had voiced her displeasure on the matter. In another sign of unease in the Congress government, former journalist and deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri is said to have been not in sync with Sukhu. 

In the context of the Rajya Sabha polls, the problem for the Himachal Congress was that Sukhu could not stand up to the Gandhis and advise them not to nominate an outsider as a Rajya Sabha candidate. The development — which came just months ahead of the Lok Sabha elections — once again exposed the weakness of the party and its first family who seem to have lost the grip on a state that they repeatedly called a “paradise”. 

Tuesday’s result could also diminish Sukhu’s stature, with the Congress leadership failing to keep its flock together. Knives will be out as Sukhu faces intense scrutiny. Worse, the days of his chief ministership could be numbered, with the BJP claiming Sukhu’s government is in minority. Flaunted by the Congress as a bus driver’s son who rose to the CM’s post, Sukhu finds himself off the track now.