Spokesperson: Shri Jairam Ramesh: He said that in December 2022, the Congress Party got a clear mandate in Himachal Pradesh. Despite the propaganda of the Prime Minister, despite the propaganda of BJP National President, JP Nadda ji, despite the propaganda of Modi government minister Anurag Singh Thakur, the people of Himachal Pradesh gave a clear majority to the Congress Party.Our government was formed and after a few days the Congress government had to face a humongous crisis. An extremely deadly natural disaster occurred, millions of people were displaced. Many people also lost their lives. Property worth crores of rupees was damaged. But no help was received from the Prime Minister and the Central Government. Despite the demand of the Congress Party and the Chief Minister of Himachal writing a letter to the Prime Minister, it was not declared a national disaster.

Based on our mandate, a Rajya Sabha seat was earmarked for us, but sadly, in the end, BJP candidates were selected on the basis of lottery system. Cross voting has taken place, from which we cannot run away. It is very unfortunate that our country’s well-known lawyer, an influential spokesperson of Congress, MP, Abhishek Manu Singhvi could not win this seat.

We are not running away from cross voting. This is the reality, it is unfortunate. Why this has happened, how it has happened, we will discuss it in our observer report, but right now our priority is to save our Congress government, the mandate was of the Congress Party and only the Congress Party. It was a clear mandate, a clear majority.

So, this mandate should be respected. We had pledged that we will give a sensitive government for five years on the basis of that mandate. We were engaged in implementing the guarantees. Some tough decisions may have to be taken, but we will not back down from them. Organization is paramount, Congress Party is paramount. The mandate of the Congress is actually a mandate to the Congress, but it is the mandate of the people, we will not allow the mandate of Himachal to be betrayed and we will continue to fulfill the mandate we have received. Wednesday, February 28, 2024