‘Honest BJP workers’ not supporting Cong traitors, says Sukhu

Shimla: Himachal Pradesh chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Monday claimed that the “honest BJP workers” were not with the “sold out” former independent legislators in these byelections after the group of six had betrayed the Congress in the election for a Rajya Sabha seat.
He said while campaigning in support of Congress candidate Hardeep Bawa at Kirpalpur, Ramshehar, Nand, Swarghat, and Gurukund in Nalagarh assembly constituency.The CM said: “Budget was to be passed the day after the Rajya Sabha elections when those six MLAs skipped the assembly, having sold their souls to the BJP. They were disqualified for defying a whip, after which 4 of them got another lesson in the byelections.”
Claiming this to be first instance where independent MLAs had entered elections within 14 months of resigning. He accused the previous BJP govt of cheating the public in its 5-year tenure. Sukhu alleged that the-then CM, Jai Ram Thakur, who was now leader of the state’s opposition, had slept over the examination-paper leak at the Hamirpur Staff Selection Commission.
Sukhu claimed to have started eliminating corruption, and the evidence was in the action against six Congress MLAs and three independents who had tried to topple his govt. He claimed that the 34 Congress MLAs had foiled BJP’s “operation lotus” by their unity. Claiming to be doing politics of service and not appeasement, he asked the BJP workers to support the Congress against the “sold out” candidates. tnn