Drawing a protest

But it’s not just the Congress that is protesting. A day before senior BJP leaders hit the campaign trail in Himachal Pradesh, the party in the state is unhappy over the ad as well.

Its state unit says they were surprised to see the ad, which was issued by the party in Delhi. State party president Jairam Thakur and other senior leaders fielded frantic calls from unhappy candidates through the day.

Meanwhile, chief minister Vidharbha Singh who was campaigning at Gumerwin said, “I am not surprised by the ad and its contents. The BJP can’t stop itself from lowering the standards of the campaign. So it has chosen to be make its a personal attack. But such an undignified campaign will not pay off in Himachal.”

The BJP in Himachal too appears to agree with it. What has upset some party men is the timing of the ad. Senior BJP leaders— L.K. Advani, Rajnath Singh, Venkaiah Naidu, Murli Manohar Joshi and Sushma Swaraj— are scheduled to start their campaign in the state on Wednesday.

Says Thakur, “I feel the ad may not send the right message since the campaign has just started. Right now there is a need for an issue-based campaign.”

The Congress, meanwhile, has chosen to play safe and is restricting its campaign to the development issue. But party strategists admit that talking of development is hardly likely to get them votes. The Congress is expected to shift gradually to a more aggressive campaign, targeting the BJP and its chief ministerial candidate Prem Kumar Dhumal.

Dhumal, meanwhile says, “It’s the Congress, which has brought this culture of indecency to the campaign from Punjab. In 2003, I had to file defamation cases against then Punjab CM and other Congress leaders.” The war of words has just begun.