When it began to prepare for the Himachal Pradesh elections, the BJP did not initially consider it a challenge to win the hill state. The party pushed its development plank, with Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur inaugurating projects worth hundreds of crores in the run-up to the polls today. From the beginning, the party maintained that Prime Minister Modi would be the face of the elections and that central government schemes would be pushed.
This was the same time when problems of factionalism emerged within the Congress party. In the absence of six-time chief minister, Virbhadra Singh, who died last year, there have been multiple CM faces with individual lobbies. HPCC chief Pratibha Singh stated that announcing a CM face would produce “heartburn” within the party.
The BJP, meanwhile, began its poll preparation with multiple PM visits during which he inaugurated AIIMS Bilaspur and the Vande Bharat train from Una. Even posters began to appear in which PM Modi would be visible and CM Thakur would be absent.
The hoardings and advertisements boasted of central government schemes such as the Health Mission. Even the abrogation of Article 370 was promoted in the state as the political will of the BJP, exhorting the people to associate the state with a strong Centre.
The problem for the BJP began with the process of ticket distribution. The party cancelled the tickets of 11 sitting MLAs and fielded many new faces, ruffling feathers. As a result, BJP is facing rebel candidates as independents in more than 20 seats.
This caused a shift in the party’s campaign strategy. National President JP Nadda began making unannounced visits to the state to pacify party workers. CM Thakur held meetings with rebel leaders to convince them to not fight elections. The Congress party is also facing rebellion in some seats.
In the previous elections, the BJP focussed on selling vikas as a major poll plank, apart from law and order and doubling farmer income. In 2017, it was also in the BJP’s favour that the state tended to experience one-term anti-incumbency as both the BJP and Congress have alternated in power since the 1980s. While Modi, in the previous elections, also made multiple visits to the state, it was under different circumstances this time.
The party’s crisis of rebellion kept building up till the withdrawal of nominations. Once it became clear that many were not going to budge, the party intensified campaigning. PM Modi again made multiple visits in the first week of November. Even Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath was called for 16 rallies over five days. While it is the party’s philosophy to go all out in each election, it was necessary this time to present a strong central leadership.
This was also done since the party has been relying largely on central government schemes and the promise of double-engine sarkar as a selling point in the elections. Another reason for the party to have a high-adrenaline campaign was because the leadership of CM Jairam Thakur had been questioned. With Dhumal denied a ticket and sidelined, the party had to present a united front amidst allegations of a leadership vacuum.
The Congress maintained that its marquee promise will be re-introducing the Old Pension Scheme which impacts more than 2.5 lakh employees. The BJP in its manifesto did not mention that it will be bringing back OPS, instead reiterating that a committee has been formed to look into the feasibility of OPS following which a decision will be taken. This was perceived as the BJP being non committal to OPS especially at a time when the opposition has centred its campaign around it.
From Sambit Patra to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, several BJP leaders were brought in to promote the party’s policies. With both Nadda and Union Minister Anurag Thakur hailing from the state, much is at stake. The BJP has even promised a Uniform Civil Code in order to create a building block for nationwide implementation.
The Congress party on the other hand, was unable to bring in Rahul Gandhi, busy with the Bharat Jodo Yatra, and Priyanka Gandhi led the campaign.
For the Congress, the absence of Virbhadra Singh is the most crucial factor in this campaign.
For the BJP, the elections will be a test of the Modi factor, and for the Congress, it will define their next line of leadership. The result will prove to be a defining point for each party’s strategy in the run up to 2024 elections.
