Operation Lotus has failed, Himachal government stable: Deputy CM Mukesh Agnihotri
Jun 12, 2024
Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) [India], June 12 : Asserting that the Congress government is stable and it will cross the number of 40 seats in the upcoming by-elections in the state, Himachal Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri Agnihotri took a jibe at the BJP and said that "Operation Lotus has failed."
Speaking with ANI, Agnihotri criticised the BJP and said, "There was an attempt to topple the government in Himachal Pradesh but despite whatever politics happened, we won four out of the six seats on which by-elections were held. Our government has stabilized with a figure of 38, and Operation Lotus has failed."
He added further, "... By-elections are to be held within a month. We are hopeful that we will cross the figure we had in the beginning. We will cross the number of 40."
The deputy CM on Tuesday also said, "Dal badal ki rajneeti ko janta ne nakara hai. We have won four out of six seats."
In the recent by-elections, Congress' Anuradha Rana won from Lahaul & Spiti, Captain Ranjit Singh secured a win from Sujanpur, Rakesh Kalia from Gagret and Vivek Sharma from Kutlehar. While BJP's Sudhir Sharma had won in Dharamshala and Inder Dutt Lakhanpal from Barsar.
Meanwhile, the Election Commission of India has announced the dates to hold bye-elections to fill vacancies in 13 assembly constituencies of seven states, including three seats of Himachal Pradesh--Dehra, Nalagarh, and Hamirpur. The elections will be conducted on July 10 and the counting of the votes will be done on July 13.
Mukesh Agnihotri also congratulated the new central government formed by the BJP and said that he would like JP Nadda, who has been given the Ministry of Family and Health, to help the state as he has been from the Himachal Pradesh. "We hope he (JP Nadda) will help Himachal Pradesh and support in the revenue generation of the State. We had given a claim with a demand of Rs 11,000 crore rupees that were lost during the disaster... The Central government needs to help the hill states...," Agnihotri said.
The Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA secured 293 seats in the Lok Sabha elections. BJP won 240 seats on its own. In the 543-strong lower house of the Indian parliament, 272 is the minimum majority figure.
The Congress, on the other hand, won 99 seats. The INDIA bloc crossed the 230 mark.
