Shimla: Hours after the BJP claimed the Himachal Pradesh government is in minority, chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said on Tuesday evening that the CRPF and the Haryana Police took away “5-6” Congress MLAs. According to sources, the central force has sequestered six Congress and three independent MLAs.

Sukhu urged the MLAs to contact their families.

“The manner in which the counting has begun and Opposition leaders are threatening the polling officers again and again is not right for democracy…They had halted the counting for long. I urge the Himachal BJP unit’s leaders – have patience, don’t put pressure on people…CRPF and Haryana Police convoy have taken away 5-6 MLAs. I can say that the people who have gone away are being contacted by their families, I urge them to contact their families…There is no need to worry,” he said.

The development came after polling for the Himachal Pradesh Rajya Sabha elections took place.

After casting his vote, Sukhu said the MLAs have voted as per the ideology of the party.

“We have 40 MLAs in the state assembly, and unless MLAs are bought off, we will get all the votes,” he said.

The Congress has 40 seats in the 68-seat assembly. It also has the support of three independent MLAs.

The BJP has 25 MLAs.

The voting took place amid apprehension of cross-voting.

Earlier today, the Leader of Opposition and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Jairam Thakur claimed the Congress government is in a minority in the state.

“The budget will be presented tomorrow. We will discuss the budget tomorrow and then we will see the situation there. But I can see that the government has lost the majority,” he said.

With inputs from ANI