Who Is Harsh Mahajan? BJP Nominee Whose Surprise Win In Himachal RS Poll Spells Trouble for Congress

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will form its government in Himachal Pradesh, declared the BJP candidate who won the Rajya Sabha Elections in the state, in a stunning upset for the ruling Congress.

The BJP secured the state’s lone Rajya Sabha seat on Tuesday, with its candidate Harsh Mahajan defeating Congress stalwart Abhishek Manu Singhvi, apparently setting the stage for a no-trust motion in the assembly.

Who is Harsh Mahajan?

Mahajan, a three-time MLA and former minister, had resigned from the Congress in September 2022 ahead of the assembly polls and joined the BJP. While talking to news agency ANI, he said, “Some more MLAs of Congress are in touch with us. I got phone calls from some of their MLAs and ministers. The situation is going to change in the next few hours and you will see BJP will form its govt soon…For the next 10-20 years, Congress is not going to come to power here.”

Tuesday’s voting was a tie with both the Congress and the BJP candidates getting 34 votes, indicating that at least six Congress MLAs voted against the party. The result was then declared based on a draw of lots, officials said. In the 68-member Himachal Pradesh Assembly, the Congress has 40 MLAs while the BJP has 25 legislators. The remaining three seats are held by independents.

Congress Will Challenge Poll

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said they would challenge the election in Himachal as both the candidates got 34 votes each and the decision was taken based on a lottery. “If the government breaks an elected government, what democracy is it? It has happened earlier in Karnataka, Manipur, and Goa. When they do not get elected, they take measures, intimidate them, and break the government. Is this democracy?” Kharge asked at a summit in Delhi hosted by the TV9 Network.

The Congress candidate’s defeat is likely to increase trouble for the Sukhu government as the annual budget for 2024-25 is to be passed in the state assembly on February 29 and proving his majority in the House would be a big challenge for him. Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur and Himachal BJP chief Rajiv Bindal have demanded the resignation of the CM following the Singhvi’s defeat. The Rajya Sabha poll result was announced by a draw of lots in which the candidate whose name is taken out loses, as per the norms of the Election Commission.

Earlier, high drama unfolded in Shimla with both the ruling Congress and opposition BJP accusing each other of violations and malpractices. The Congress had issued a whip to its MLAs to vote for Singhvi following which the BJP had accused the ruling party of issuing a whip to their members to put pressure on them and maintained that the MLAs had the right to vote as per their wish. Mahajan sent a complaint to the chief election commissioner drawing his attention to the three-line whip issued by the Congress to vote for the party candidate. In his complaint, Mahajan said that such a whip was not only unethical but also against the conducting of elections to the Rajya Sabha as it would affect the decision-making ability of the MLAs.

(With agency inputs)