6 Himachal Cong rebels, 3 Independents switch to BJP
Congress still has majority with 34 MLAs in curtailed 59-member House; BJP has 25 MLAs
Nine former Himachal Pradesh MLAs, comprising six disqualified Congress legislators and three Independents who quit their seats, joined the BJP in New Delhi on Saturday amid the continuing political crisis in the state.
The former lawmakers slammed the Congress government in the state headed by chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, saying development works had come to standstill since it came to power.
They joined the BJP in the presence of Union minister and Hamirpur MP Anurag Thakur, former Himachal Pradesh chief minister Jai Ram Thakur, its national general secretary Arun Singh and state unit president Rajeev Bindal.
Welcoming the former lawmakers into the party, Anurag Thakur said their presence will further strengthen the BJP as he accused the Congress government in the state of failing to fulfil its promises, leading to allround anger among people.
Anurag Thakur said six of the former lawmakers, despite being Congress MLAs, supported the BJP in the recent Rajya Sabha election as they chose to reflect the “public anger” against the Sukhu government.
The former Congress MLAs who joined the BJP are Sudhir Sharma, Ravi Thakur, Rajinder Rana, Inder Dutt Lakhanpal,
Chaitanya Sharma and Devinder Kumar Bhutto -- all disqualified on February 29 for defying a party whip to be present in the House and vote in favour of the state government during a cut motion and budget.
Ashish Sharma, Hoshiyar Singh and KL Thakur, who were elected as Independents and resigned on Friday, also joined the BJP, with Singh saying they decided to be part of the country’s development journey under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “Development works in the state have stopped since the Congress came to power,” he said.
BJP leaders cited a host of development measures taken by the Modi government for the state, including highway and rail projects, and said the former MLAs had decided to strengthen the Prime Minister’s leadership.
They are expected to contest the bypolls from their respective seats as candidates of the saffron party.
Jai Ram Thakur described the six former Congress MLAs’ joining the BJP as a big political development for such a small state, noting that several of these leaders had held senior positions within the party.
Sharma, a four-term MLA, alleged that there is no atmosphere for development in the state, while the Congress is disintegrating because its leadership lacks vision for the country and has nothing to offer except criticism of Modi.
Rana echoed his view and blamed the Congress leadership for causing a political disaster and said they are hopeful of putting the hill state on the path to development, a pointer to the BJP’s efforts to bring down the government through bypoll wins and further defections from the grand old party.
The Election Commission has announced bypolls for the six constituencies held by these former Congress MLAs.
Bypolls are expected to be announced on the three seats held by the Independents too.
Last month, the Congress government faced a political crisis after the BJP won the Rajya Sabha election for the state’s lone seat due to the support of the nine MLAs. Though Sukhu has been putting up a brave face and there appears to be no immediate threat to his government, the BJP is looking to bring down his dispensation with bypoll wins amid a view that it may draw more legislators of the ruling party into its fold.
With the disqualification of the six Congress MLAs, the strength of the ruling party came down from 39 to 33 in the
62-member assembly. Its original strength is 68.
The BJP has 25 members. The speaker, who can vote only in the case of a tie during a floor test, is affiliated to the Congress.
The resignations of the three Independents have reduced the assembly’s strength to 59.
Gaurav Bisht
In a relief for farmers of hill states of the country, the Central Potato Research Institute (CPRI) has announced resumption of potato seed production after a hiatus of six years. The production of seed potatoes was halted in 2018 after outbreak of potato cyst in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir.
The scarcity of good quality seeds had adversely hit potato production nationwide, prompting the Union agriculture ministry to entrust CPRI with the responsibility of finding a solution for the disease. After extensive trials, CPRI has developed a treatment for cyst nematode disease. The Union agriculture ministry has approved the production of quality seed .
The Institute will supply potato seeds of various varieties such as Kufri Jyoti, Kufri Girdhari, Kufri Himalni and Kufri Karan, to hill states such as Uttarakhand, J&K, Sikkim, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh, starting this year.
This decision comes as a relief for farmers grappling with the repercussions of the ban imposed on potato seed production in Kufri and Fagu farms. CPRI director Brajesh Singh outlined the timeline for seed preparation, and said that the process would commence by the end of April with a buffer seed stock already in place.
Kufri and Fagu farms manger Ashwani Sharma said that it was estimated that 800 to 1,000 quintals of potatoes would be produced on five hectares, with 700
CENTRE BANNED SEED PRODUCTION IN 2018 AFTER A PEST OUTBREAK
quintals of seeds slated for distribution from November.
“Initially, methyl bromide was used, achieving a success rate of up to 50%. However, subsequent tests with sodium hypochlorite proved to be more effective,” said CPRI researcher Sanjeev Sharma.
Another researcher Aarti Bairwa said, “According to the protocol, potato seeds are dipped in a 2% solution of sodium hypochlorite for 30 minutes, followed by two washes with water and drying in a shaded area. This treatment ensures the preservation of seed quality and germination capacity.”
In 2018, the Centre had banned movement of seed potatoes from hill states to plains. India is second largest producer of potatoes in the world, only next to China. In 2017 and 2018, the potato production in India was recorded at 48.5 million tonnes. However, India could not tap the European markets due to strict phytosanitary protocol. Lahaul and Spiti district is the highest producer of seed potatoes in Himachal Pradesh. The potatoes produced in the district are disease free and has its main market in Punjab, Gujarat and West Bengal.
Potato cyst nematode is a pest of potatoes worldwide and is subject to stringent quarantine and/or regulatory procedures. It can be devastating for potatoes in temperate regions.