Hardly a day went by, since the election campaigns for the Lok Sabha and the state by-election began in Himachal Pradesh when Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu did not use words like “bikau” (saleable), “who sold their zameer” (integrity), and “kaala-dhan” (black money) in his speeches while maintaining his government is stable. All these while his pet slogan has been: “Dhanbal haregaa, Janbal jitegaa (money power will be defeated, people’s power will win)”. Sukhu even dubbed the six rebels as “kaale naag (black cobras)” and made remarks “Bhutto ko Kutto (beat Bhutto)”, prompting the Opposition BJP in the state to move to the Election Commission against him.
The elections are taking place close on the heels of the February 27 rebellion by the six Congress legislators who defeated their own party candidate and senior lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi by cross-voting in favour of BJP candidate Harsh Mahajan in the Rajya Sabha election in much dismay to CM Sukhu. The Congress lost despite having a full majority in the House of 68 — 40 Congress, 25 BJP, and three Independents (supporting BJP from the outside).
Already left embarrassed, Sukhu was faced with the demand for his resignation on moral grounds and a floor test by Opposition leaders led by former CM Jairam Thakur. At this juncture, the Sukhu government issued a party whip for the Budget Session in the Assembly, but the six rebels, who were under the protection of paramilitary forces, stayed away only to be disqualified by Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania, necessitating the by-election on the six Assembly seats represented by them. The by-election on six seats will simultaneously take place with the parliamentary elections on all four seats in the 7th and last phase on June 1.
“Sukhu is right, his government is stable as the current numbers — 34 Congress, 25 BJP, 3 independents (who joined BJP after submitting resignations, which are yet to be accepted)— favour him. But as June 1 approaches, his attacks on the rebel MLAs contesting by-election on BJP tickets have sharpened. Look at his campaign speeches for the parliamentary elections and the by-election, you will notice his speeches for the bypolls are more aggressive. For Sukhu and his government, the bypolls are more important than the parliamentary elections, which is evident from Sukhu’s campaign style. Besides, four out of the six rebels are from the Hamirpur parliamentary constituency, under which the constituencies of Sukhu (Nadaun) and Deputy CM Mukesh Agnihotri (Haroli) fall, mounting pressure on both top leaders,” said Dr Joginder Singh Solanki, Assistant Professor of Political Science at Himachal Pradesh University in Shimla.
The bypolls in the state have become an affair of greater significance even among central leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, and others. On May 24, addressing an election rally in Nahan in Sirmaur district, Modi hinted at political instability, referring to the bypolls on the six seats, and said the state government could fall anytime. In response, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in Nahan on Sunday accused the BJP of trying to topple the democratically elected state government.
Sukhu is not missing any chance to attack the six rebels — Rajinder Rana, Sudhir Sharma, Devinder Kumar Bhutto, Chaitanya Sharma, Inder Dutt Lakhanpal and Ravi Thakur — alleging they accepted “crores of rupees for selling their integrity”.
Countering Sukhu, the rebels accused him of ignoring them during the government and promoting his friends while distributing portfolios. The rebels also accuse Sukhu of not allowing development works and not resolving the grievances of the people in their constituencies. A few of them, including Sudhir Sharma and Rajinder Rana, have filed defamation suits against Sukhu in the Himachal Pradesh High Court. In two of these petitions, notices were issued to Sukhu.
Solanki, however, believes the fate of three Independent MLAs will play a crucial role. “In the current political scenario, the fate of three Independent MLAs will also decide the future of the state government. If the six rebels win, the BJP’s number will increase to 31, two notches below the majority (35), assuming Congress manages to keep its current MLAs intact. It depends on the Speaker when he will accept the resignations of the three Independents. Sukhu can be a game-changer if he manages to convince the people in the six Assembly constituencies that their elected representatives cheated them by changing sides,” Solanki said. “Himachalis may also vote like Delhiites who last time elected the AAP in the Assembly elections but gave parliamentary seats to the BJP.”
Independent MLAs Hoshiyar Singh, Ashish Sharma and KL Thakur representing the Dehra, Hamirpur, and Nalagarh Assembly constituencies, respectively, submitted their resignations to the Speaker on March 22 and joined the BJP the next day. Subsequently, they moved the Himachal Pradesh High Court, seeking the court’s instruction to Pathania to accept their resignations.
Despite widespread speculations that the Congress will cash in on the rebellion in the BJP after it fielded six turncoats, Sukhu and his party’s central leadership trusted their own lieutenants, except for BJP dissident Capt Ranjeet Singh, who was given a ticket from the Sujanpur Assembly seat against Congress turncoat and BJP candidate Rajinder Rana.
BJP dissident Rajesh Kalia was given the ticket from the Gagret Assembly seat against BJP candidate and Congress turncoat MLA Chaitanya Sharma, who was in the Congress before joining the BJP in 2021. Instead of picking BJP dissident Dr Ramlal Markanda of Lahaul and Spiti, who was among the most vocal dissidents against the induction of six Congress MLAs into the BJP, the Congress gave a ticket to its local leader Anuradha Rana, the first woman candidate in the history of the Lahaul and Spiti Assembly seat in the past 52 years.
The Himachal Pradesh Police have so far registered two FIRs against Rakesh Sharma, the father of Congress turncoat Chaitanya Sharma, Independent MLA Ashish Sharma and Congress turncoat Devinder Kumar Bhutto under various charges. Father of BJP candidate from Gagret, Rakesh Sharma and Independent MLA Ashish Sharma were booked for electoral offences, bribery and criminal conspiracy. Bhutto and his son Karan were booked for allegedly procuring a government tender by submitting fake documents.
The six assembly constituencies in brief:
Sujanpur (Hamirpur Lok Sabha constituency)
In 2022, rebel Rajinder Singh Rana won with a margin of 399 votes, defeating BJP candidate Capt Ranjeet Singh, who had secured 27,280 votes. Rana secured 27,679 votes out of the total 55,597 votes polled against the total registered voters of 75,396. BJP dissident Capt Ranjeet Singh is contesting the by-election against Rajinder Rana on a Congress ticket. In 2017, Rajinder Rana defeated BJP senior leader and former CM Prem Kumar Dhumal with a margin of 1,919 votes. Dhumal had got 23,369 votes.
Barsar (Hamirpur Lok Sabha constituency)
Congress rebel Inder Dutt Lakhanpal has won the seat consecutive three times. In 2012, he defeated Baldev Sharma of the BJP with a margin of 2,658 votes. In 2017, he again defeated BJP candidate Baldev Sharma with a narrow margin of 439 votes. In 2022, he defeated BJP candidate Maya Sharma with a margin of 13,792 votes. This time the Congress gave the ticket to senior party worker Subhash Chand.
Gagret (Part of Hamirpur Lok Sabha constituency)
Congress Rebel and now BJP candidate Chaitanya Sharma won the seat in the 2022 Assembly elections by a margin of 15,685 votes, defeating BJP’s Rajesh Thakur, who had secured 25,082 votes. In 2017, Rajesh Thakur won the seat with a margin of 9,320 votes, defeating Congress’s Rajesh Kalia, who secured 24,657 votes. Rajesh Kalia had joined the BJP to protest the Congress’s ticket to Chaitanya Sharma in 2022. In April this year, Rajesh Kalia joined the Congress which gave him a ticket against Chaitanya Sharma.
Kutlehar (Hamirpur Lok Sabha constituency)
Rebel Devinder Kumar Bhutto won the 2022 Assembly elections by a margin of 7,579 votes, defeating BJP candidate Virender Kanwar, who received 29,057 votes. Bhutto got 36,636 votes. In 2017, BJP’s Virender Kanwar won the seat, receiving 31,101 votes. Kanwar’s victory margin was 5,606 votes. He defeated Congress’s Vivek Sharma, who had secured 25,495 votes. The Congress fielded Vivek Sharma against Bhutto. Vivek Sharma has been associated with the Congress for a long time. His father, Ram Nath Sharma was deputy Speaker of the Assembly during the previous Congress regime.
Lahaul & Spiti (Mandi Lok Sabha constituency)
The rebel, Ravi Thakur, won the 2022 Vidhan Sabha elections with a margin of 1,616 votes, defeating BJP’s Dr Ram Lal Markanda. The total votes were polled 18,801. In 2017, BJP candidate Dr Ram Lal Markanda won defeating Ravi Thakur with a margin of 478 votes. At that time, the total votes were polled 17,121. The Congress has now given the ticket to Anuradha Rana.
Dharamshala (Part of Kangra Lok Sabha constituency)
Sudhir Sharma won the seat in the 2022 Assembly elections with a margin of 3,285 votes, defeating BJP’s Rakesh Choudhary. Sharma had received 27,323 votes. In 2017, BJP’s Vishal Nehria won the seat, defeating Independent Rakesh Kumar with a margin of 6,758 votes. In 2017 also, the BJP won the seat by fielding Kishan Kapoor, who had secured 26,050 votes. This time the Congress has fielded party’s senior leader and former Dharamshala mayor Devinder Jaggi against Sudhir Sharma.
