With less than two weeks left for the Assembly polls, star campaigners of all parties are making a beeline for Himachal Pradesh. The campaign has picked up with Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Union Home Minister Amit Shah landing in the state. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, his deputy Manish Sisodiya and Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann will hold road shows from November 3 onwards.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address four rallies across the state from November 5 onwards—the firepower the BJP hopes will hold it in good stead.
The initial mood of the state is billing it as a tough contest between the traditional rivals, the BJP and the Congress. While the ruling dispensation is pitching for change of ‘tradition’, the other two sides are saying ‘tradition’ is good.
This contest witnessed parties coining slogans for their campaigns. The BJP is asking for rivaaj (tradition) change to re-elect Jairam Thakur as the chief minister again. The state has been electing a new government every five years since 1985. “This trend will change. BJP government will be elected again,” Thakur told THE WEEK at his residence.
Amit Shah who addressed three rallies in the state on Tuesday was scathing in his attack on the Congress. “Our contest is with the Congress. Is there anyone left in the Congress. The Congress cannot bring development to this region,” Shah said at a rally in Kusumpati, an assembly seat in the Shimla district.
Shah accused the Congress of ignoring the development of temples, be it Ram temple, Kashi Vishwanath shrine. “The Congress did not care for the security as aliya, maliya, jamaliya used to infiltrate.”
On the other side, the Congress brought in Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to helm the campaign. She has a house near Shimla. She seeks to remind the state that it was former PM Indira Gandhi who gave the separate state of Himachal Pradesh.
She assured that when elected to power, the congress government will announce one lakh jobs and implementation of the old pension scheme.
Addressing her first rally, Gandhi said maintaining traditions is good. “Only when governments change that politicians stay in check. The state is land of traditions. It should maintain the tradition of changing the government,” Gandhi said at a well-attended rally in Mandi.
It was the same place where Rahul Gandhi had addressed a rally during the 2017 elections as he sought votes for the then chief minister Virbhadra Singh. The tallest leader of the state is no longer on the scene, and the Congress is feeling a pinch of his absence. The grand old party had his wife Pratibha Singh as the state chief after his demise. She also won the by-election in 2021 riding on the sympathy wave.
Though the Congress leaders said they have sent a request for Rahul Gandhi to campaign in the state, he is unlikely to accede to the demands as he is undertaking a padayatra across the country.
The BJP as usual is going for a very high pitched campaign. Party’s senior leaders including central ministers addressed rallies in all the 68 constituencies on Sunday to make an impact. BJP has a headache to counter the rebels who have not withdrawn from the contest after they were denied tickets. The suspended five leaders include former MP and party's state vice president Kripal Parmar and former MLAs Tejwant Singh Negi (Kinnaur), Kishori Lal (Anni), Manohar Dhiman (Indora) and K.L. Thakur (Nalagarh).
The Congress, meanwhile, claimed most of its rebels have withdrawn from the contest.
While the BJP has a CM candidate, the Congress has not announced any face, neither has the AAP. “We are fighting under collective leadership. The CM will be picked up after polls,” said AICC in-charge for Himachal Pradesh, Rajeev Shukla.
The non-deceleration of a CM face is not the only thing which is common to both sides. The Congress and the AAP both have also promised 10 and 11 guarantees, respectively, to the people as their main election plank. These guarantees include jobs, free power, financial help for women, and restoration of old pension scheme, among other things.
For BJP, the improved performance by AAP would help in dividing the anti-incumbency vote against the government. As the countdown for the polling day has began, all the three parties are deputing their leaders for the creating an atmosphere in their favour.