BJP trying Operation Lotus once again to ‘dislodge Cong govt’

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu today said that he was not bothered that the BJP was trying another ‘Operation Lotus’ in Himachal as he would continue working in the interest of the state and its people.

He told The Tribune that he was aware of the BJP’s nefarious designs to destabilise the Congress government. “Earlier also, I knew three or four MLAs will cross-vote as they wanted to become ministers but their credibility was questionable. There was a lot of pressure on me to induct them into the Cabinet, which was under consideration but they found the BJP’s offer more appealing than a ministerial berth,” he said reflecting on the developments in the run-up to the Rajya Sabha election on February 27, 2023, in which six Congress MLAs had cross-voted, leading to their disqualification from the Assembly.

Sukhu also rubbished the claims of Rajya Sabha MP Harsh Mahajan that the Congress government would collapse. Nobody knows him better than me. “Jo ghar ka nahin ho saka voh kiska hoga. Yeh sirf chaplusi ki rajniti hai, BJP ko bhi jaldi malum ho jayega,” he added.

Sukhu has had close association with Mahajan, a former Congress minister who became Rajya Sabha MP on the BJP ticket. The Chief Minister said that the Congress was fully united and all ministers and MLAs were satisfied. “In a family also, there is some level of dissatisfaction and if 70 per cent are satisfied, it is all right. There can be a difference of opinion, both in the party and the Cabinet but eventually we talk and forge a consensus,” he added.

There was a lot of pressure on me to make them ministers but their integrity was questionable. “They were enticed by the BJP and now in the hindsight, I feel that it was for the betterment that they left the party. We made our strategy and passed the Budget and fought on both political and legal fronts,” he said. The ministers and the MLAs were fully satisfied and the party was fully united, he added.

He said it also proved that the voters of Himachal were well aware of the BJP’s nefarious designs as the Congress won six of the nine Assembly byelections, taking its tally again to 40.

Fought Dharam Yudh to save govt

"It was a Rajnitik Dharam Yudh that I fought to save the government when the BJP launched ‘Operation Lotus’. My wife was not keen to contest the Assembly byelection but it was a question of defeating traitors. She won from a constituency where the Congress had not won for 25 years."

- Sukhvinder Sukhu, Chief Minister