'Played role of facilitator between High Command, rebel MLAs': Congress' Vikramaditya Singh

Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) [India], March 6 : The Public Works Department Minister of Himachal Pradesh, Vikramaditya Singh, said on Wednesday that he played the role of facilitator between the Congress High Command and disqualified party MLAs, adding that the decision now lies with the party's central leadership.
"Now the ball is in the court of the Congress High Command," Singh said while speaking to the media after returning from Delhi.
He said that the Congress High Command and the observers, DK Shivakumar and BS Hooda, had given him the responsibility to meet and take the views of the'rebel' and disqualified MLAs. Singh said that he has fulfilled his responsibility as the facilitator.
"I would not like to divulge any conversation that I had with the rebel MLAs or the High Command. Yes, I was given some responsibility, and according to that, I went to meet rebel MLAs. I went to meet the High Command, and I conveyed the sentiments of the High Command to the MLAs and of the MLAs to the High Command. Now the matter is in the court of the Congress High Command. They have to decide how things will pan out in the years to come. The matter is now subjudice because all these six rebel MLAs have challenged the order in the Supreme Court, so it will not be appropriate for me to comment on this," Singh said.
He said that he does not believe in 'rumours' but believes in facts. On being asked about the stability of the government, he said, "I believe so".
"I have made it clear what I wanted to say, I don't want to comment on the news and information that is away from the facts. I am fulfilling my responsibility given by the party high command and also the government," said Singh.
On the possibility of disqualified MLAs returning to the party, the Congress leader said, "Everything is possible in politics, there are some pressure tactics, I am learning politics. No doors are open or closed in politics, earlier, Amit Shah ji said doors had been closed for Nitish Babu, but those doors were opened for him later. These are common in politics."
Vikramaditya Singh said that he would very soon approach the union government with more proposals regarding the welfare programmes in the state. He also thanked the Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways of India, Nitin Gadkari, for the inauguration of development projects in the state.
"I would like to thank Union Minister Nitin Gadkari as PWD Minister for visiting Himachal Pradesh and inaugurating development projects worth nearly 4500 crore rupees in the state. He has also allotted an additional 200 crore rupees for the development of the state. I would like to thank him on behalf of the people of the state," Singh said.
"I hope that we shall get support from the union government on our other demands and projects. It is our moral responsibility. I was present in the programme yesterday to fulfil our moral responsibility. I would like to thank the union government for its support in infrastructure development and capital expenditure in the state. I will go to Delhi tomorrow and move more proposals," he said.
On March 5, the six disqualified leaders approached the Supreme Court, challenging the Assembly's Speaker's decision to disqualify them for cross-voting in the Rajya Sabha polls.
The six MLAs who had been disqualified were Sudhir Sharma, Rajinder Rana, Davinder K Bhutto, Ravi Thakur, Chaitanya Sharma, and Inder Dutt Lakhanpal under the anti-defection law.
After the 2022 Assembly elections, the Congress had 40 MLAs, while the BJP had 25 in the 68-member state assembly. The remaining three seats are held by independents.
These rebel legislators have cross-voted in the Rajya Sabha polls. In the Rajya Sabha election recently, the BJP, which has only 25 MLAs, managed to secure 9 additional votes.