Congress government in Himachal has lost majority, says former CM Jai Ram Thakur

Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) [India], February 27 (ANI): Former Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur has claimed that Congress government in the state has lost the majority in the assembly and that the party will decide its strategy during debate on the state budget in the assembly.

Voting was held on Monday for the Rajya Sabha seat in Himachal Pradesh for which the BJP had also put up a candidate.

Asked if the BJP will seek a floor test, Jairam Thakur, who is the Leader of Opposition, said the state budget will be presented tomorrow.

"We will discuss the Budget tomorrow and then we will see the situation there. But I can see that the government has lost the majority," Jairam Thakur told ANI.

He said the government is being run forcibly. "Main dhekh raha hun, dhake se chala rahe hain. (I can see, they are running it forcibly)," he said.

Himachal Pradesh Miniser Harshwardhan Chauhan alleged that the BJP had tried "horse trading" in the Rajya Sabha polls.

"This is BJP's frustration because the number of MLAs is not in favour of the BJP. Forty MLAs are with Congress and three are independent. BJP only has 25 MLAs. ...even without numbers, BJP is fielding their candidate, which means they're planning horse trading," Chauhan said.

Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi is the Congress candidate in the Rajya Sabha polls while BJP has put up former Congress MLA Harsh Mahajan. (ANI)