'Delay Tactic': BJP’s Harsh Mahajan Says 15 MLAs Expelled To Buy Time For Congress To Save Himachal Govt

Hours after the Himachal Pradesh Assembly Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania expelled 15 BJP MLAs, the newly-elected Rajya Sabha MP from the state Harsh Mahajan while exclusively speaking to CNN-News18 accused the Speaker of misusing his power and termed his action as just a “delay tactic” to buy time for Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu-led Congress government in view of the floor test sought by Leader of Opposition Jairam Thakur.

Referring to the disqualification of the 15 BJP MLAs, Mahajan said, “This has become a routine job of speakers in many states where they enjoy extreme power to suspend and disqualify anybody. And this is just a ‘delay tactic’ of the Speaker.”

Notably, the Himachal Pradesh Assembly Speaker on Wednesday expelled 15 BJP MLAs over slogan-shouting and alleged misconduct ahead of the Budget session. The development took place after six Congress MLAs cross-voted in favour of the BJP in the Rajya Sabha polls that took place on Tuesday.

The expelled BJP MLAs included Jairam Thakur, Vipin Singh Parmar, Randheer Sharma, Lokender Kumar, Vinod Kumar, Hans Raj, Janak Raj, Balbir Verma, Trilok Jamwal, Surender Shori, Deep Raj, Puran Thakur, Inder Singh Gandhi, Dileep Thakur and Inder Singh Gandhi.

On being questioned about the alleged misconduct of the BJP MLAs, the newly-elected Rajya Sabha MP said, “Have they shown anything on TV? The BJP MLAs did nothing, it’s all fabricated. Nothing of that sort happened. And this is only a delay tactic. He only suspended opposition MLAs so that their budget could pass and they could gain some time to prove their majority in the state.”

“Now the observers of the Congress party have reached Shimla. They want to probably change the Chief Minister or why they’ve come,” he added.

Harsh Mahajan on the 5-Star Culture of Congress: ‘It’s Deplorable’

Commenting on the current condition of Congress, newly-elected Rajya Sabha MP Harsh Mahajan said, “They blame us (BJP) for their own sins. Sometimes they call it Operation Lotus, sometimes they call it something else. Every Congressman is today kind of disgruntled with the party.”

“I have been in the Congress for a long time before I switched over to the Bharatiya Janata Party about three years back. The leadership and thinking of Congress is degrading continuously. This five-star culture of Congress is really deplorable,” he said.

Mahajan on Numbers Game in Himachal Assembly

Reacting on the ongoing numbers game in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly, Mahajan stated that several MLAs from the Congress camp have approached the BJP and the Congress government will fall in the coming days.

“Several Congress MLAs are in touch with us. At least 10 mls who have approached us to join the BJP. The Congress government in Himachal is going to fall anytime, anyday. This is the beginning of the end of the Congress in the state,” Mahajan added.