Sukhvinder Sukhu-led Congress government in crisis: Here's how numbers stack up in Himachal Pradesh

Vikramaditya Singh's has left the Congress government in Himachal Pradesh on the brink with the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) claiming that the Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu-led government in the House.

In that case, the Congress is on the brink of losing , the only state in the north that it governs. If the BJP has its way, the government will face a trust vote in the assembly.

Any party or coalition is eligible to form the government if it crosses the majority mark in the House. For the 68-member Himachal Pradesh assembly, the majority mark is 35.

So, how do numbers stack up in the 68-member House in Himachal Pradesh? In the 2022 election, the Congress won 40 seats, giving it a comfortable victory. It also got support from the three independent MLAs. The BJP won 35 seats. So, until the February 27 , there was no doubt the Congress had a comfortable majority.

But things have changed due to the Rajya Sabha elections on February 27. If the nine MLAs (six Congress and three independents) who cross-voted in the Rajya Sabha polls continue to be in the Opposition camp, the ruling dispensation is left with 34 members. In that case, will, in all likelihood, face a floor test which will be difficult for him to win. 

The speaker of assembly , including former chief minister Jairam Thakur for sloganeering and alleged misconduct on February 28. Apart from Thakur, the other suspended MLAs are Vipin Singh Parmar, Randheer Sharma, Lokender Kumar, Vinod Kumar, Hans Raj, Janak Raj, Balbir Verma, Trilok Jamwal, Surender Shori, Deep Raj, Puran Thakur, Inder Singh Gandhi, Dileep Thakur and Inder Singh Gandhi.

In case of expulsion of 15 members, the strength of the House comes down to 53. And the new majority mark will be 27. In this case,