The excitement is palpable in this hill state’s tribal belt. Unlike previous occasions, the three Assembly constituencies falling under it—Kinnaur, Lahaul-Spiti and Bharmaur—will make a difference to the outcome of the forthcoming elections. They will go to polls exactly a week from now on November 14, a full one month ahead of rest of the 65 constituencies in the state, which will vote on December 19.On all earlier occasions, the tribal seats have voted well after the results of other constituencies have been declared and a Government is in place, making little difference to the entire poll process. But this time, they won’t just be of statistical interest. The general mood of the electorate there and exit polls, if any, will contribute to the final outcome in the state.And this has left the ruling Congress a worried lot. In the 2003 elections, the party had snatched all three tribal seats from the BJP. But by then Virbhadra Singh was already in the chief minister’s seat. Five years later, Singh has hardly an idea which way the wind will blow in the three prestigious seats, for anti-incumbency already seems to be working in the region.The Government is rather at the receiving end as the BJP is making a determined bid to avenge its defeat in 2003. And the saffron party, which had made a clean sweep in the 1998 elections, is being helped by some unsavoury incidents, one of them being a police firing on a group of tribals agitating against 1000 MW Karcham-Wangtoo project of JP Industries, in Kinnaur valley. In fact, the project is being projected by the BJP as an “assault on the dignity” of the Kinnauris. The party has considerable pockets of influence in the lower Kinnaur belt —the gateway to the state’s tribal region. On Monday, beginning her campaign for Congress candidate in Sangla, Pratibha Singh, sitting MP and wife of Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, faced a few embarrassing moments at Chagaon. The locals — some of them project-affected families — confronted her on the issue of the Wangtoo firing. Reports say Pratibha Singh had to wind up her meeting midway when the tribals insisted for an answer. In 1998, though the win in the tribal constituencies gave the BJP a clear-cut majority in the Assembly, it had already formed a Government by then with the support of the Himachal Vikas Congress led by former Union minister Sukh Ram.So there is one common sentiment being echoed in the entire tribal belt — that of making a difference this time. “No one can take us for a ride and then let loose an oppression. It’s an issue of everyone’s dignity. We are not feeling compelled to choose a nominee imposed by a party in power. Individual standing of the candidate will matter more than the party. It’s a big opportunity,” says Mohinder Negi, a first time voter at Kalpa.
