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Voting is going on in Himachal. BJP Counted On Twice Lucky Over ‘Trend’: 10 Facts

November 12, 2022
Bharat Times

Officials carrying electronic voting machines from a bus to polling stations in Mandi, Himachal Pradesh.

Shimla:
More than 55 lakh voters will vote in 68 assembly constituencies of Himachal Pradesh today. At the heart of the battle is whether the BJP succumbs to the Himalayan state’s “custom” or tradition of changing the government. The results will be out on 8th December.

Here are the top 10 points from this big story:

  1. The ruling BJP, which has been selling Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s face with Jai Ram Thakur, is emphasizing that “consistency” is the key to development. Its main argument is that the “double engine” – same-party governments in the state and at the center – will ensure that work is not disrupted. It cites another Himalayan state, Uttarakhand, as an example of defeating the change-every-election trend.

  2. The Congress, which says the election is about local issues, wants voters to vote in a departure from four decades of tradition. Beset by a leadership crisis since the death of veteran Virbhadra Singh, the party says it will return to power as its seat-wise ticket allocation has been “much better than before”. Virbhadra Singh’s wife Pratibha Singh heads the state unit; Son Vikramaditya Singh is among the candidates.

  3. In the BJP, which has 21 rebels, the contest is also a prestige issue for its national president JP Nadda. He was once a minister in the state under the leadership of Prem Kumar Dhumal. Mr Dhumal is among those not contesting – he insisted he had retired on his own, although he and others “deprived of tickets” made headlines as many leaders cried on stage.

  4. The BJP called Union ministers and UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, seen as the aggressive face of its Hindutva ideology, to campaign in Himachal. For Congress, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra holds rallies while her brother Rahul Gandhi prefers not to leave his ‘Bharat Jodi Yatra’ for campaigning. Mallikarjun Kharge, the first non-Gandhi chief of the Congress in 24 years, also campaigned.

  5. While the Congress has launched a low-key campaign in PM Modi’s bastion Gujarat, where it goes to polls next month, it will need to win Himachal to reverse its decline and fire up its workers. The party has failed to win, or make a significant impact in, nine states in nearly two years.

  6. Earlier this year, the Congress lost power in Himachal’s neighboring state of Punjab to the Aam Aadmi Party. AAP is contesting from Himachal, but apparently its focus was on Gujarat.

  7. The Congress’s promise to restore the old pre-2004 pension scheme has become a big issue as the state has over 2 lakh government employees. BJP has promised to implement Uniform Civil Code and 8 lakh jobs in the state. On pension, it says that “if anyone will restore the old scheme, it will be the BJP”.

  8. These elections come ahead of next year’s elections to nine states, including the Hindi heartland states of Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh – the only states to have a Congress chief minister – and Madhya Pradesh.

  9. Besides Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur from Siraj, Minister Suresh Bhardwaj from Kasumpti, Congress Legislature Party leader Mukesh Agnihotri from Haroli, Vikramaditya Singh from Shimla Rural and Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu, chief of Congress Campaign Committee.

  10. The Election Commission has set up 7,884 polling stations, including three in remote areas, for voting from 8 am to 5 pm. Its tallest booth is at Tashigang in Kaza in Lahaul-Spiti district at a height of 15,256 feet for 52 voters.