Amid political crisis in Himachal Pradesh following a revolt by six MLAs and the subsequent defeat of the Congress party’s Abhishek Manu Singhvi in Rajya Sabha elections, the BJP has claimed that Sonia Gandhi knew about the discontent and Singhvi was “ambushed by Gandhis”.
In a social media post, BJP leader Amit Malviya said that the Gandhis have a holiday home in Himachal,nyet Sonia Gandhi chose to fight Rajya Sabha polls from Rajasthan.
“The Gandhis have a holiday villa in Himachal Pradesh. But Sonia Gandhi chose Rajasthan, to go to the Rajya Sabha, instead of Himachal, which should have been a natural choice. Did Sonia Gandhi know something that Abhishek Manu Singhvi wasn’t told? Did the Gandhis ambush Singhvi?” he said.
When Congress leader Jairam Ramesh was asked about Malviya’s question, he snubbed the journalist, saying such a questions should not be asked.
He further added, “Then you can also ask why Sonia Gandhi did not contest from Karnataka, from Telangana. Revanth Reddy also wanted Sonia Gandhi to contest from there. Siddaramaiah ji also said the same. But there was no official confirmation. It was not official that Sonia Gandhi would contest from Himachal Pradesh. Everybody wanted Sonia ji to contest from their state. It was her decision to contest from Rajasthan. This is a shaitani (mischievous) argument that one contested from another state because we knew our MLAs would desert us”.
In Ramesh’s denial, Malviya saw a confirmation and claimed that Singhvi was “ambushed” by the Gandhis.
“Denial is nothing but a confirmation. Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who is no saint, has been ambushed here,” Malviya added.
Sonia Gandhi, who was a Look Sabha MP from Raebareli, was elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan.
Singhvi, on the other hand, suffered a humiliating defeat after six Congress MLAs and three independents supporting the Himachal govt cross voted in favour of BJP candidate.