Himachal Congress turmoil: Away from CM’s breakfast, rebels talk of moving Supreme Court

Although they skipped the breakfast hosted for MLAs by Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu at his official residence Oakover in Shimla, they enjoyed makki ki roti, sarson ka saag and lassi at a Panchkula hotel in the early hours of Thursday. While the CM claimed “it was a challenge to contact them as their mobile phones were switched off”, the rebels spoke to The Indian Express over the phone.

While they were undecided about what they were going to have for dinner, they were very clear about the next course of action after their disqualification  by Assembly Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania.

“We are going to the Supreme Court tomorrow. We have been accused of a crime which happened on February 28 and we got a notice about that at 11.57 pm on February 27. How come they knew of the murder a day in advance? The Speaker has acted in haste and under pressure of the CM and the high command. The decision is unconstitutional,” said Rajinder Rana.

Blaming “mukhyamantri ki karya pranali (the CM’s way of functioning)” for the sorry state of affairs, the rebel from Sujanpur constituency maintained they had been voicing their concern about the treatment being meted out to the elected representatives. “But no one listened to us.”

Sudhir Sharma, the rebel from Dharamshala, too, claims to have been humiliated despite having been elected for the fourth time. “The respect that a legislator should get was missing. Moreover, the government is not fulfilling any of the guarantees announced during the Assembly elections.”

Davinder Butto, the rebel from Kutlehar, draws attention to one specific guarantee of giving Rs 1,500 to women. “Wherever I go, women ask me when they will get Rs 1,500. I have no answer. I have been trying to get funds for my