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Journalism of Courage
Himachal Pradesh votes on Saturday after a few weeks of intense political campaigning that illustrated the dependence of the ruling party on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the enormity of the task before the Congress that has not won a state election on its own since 2018. But the Congress will draw hope from the hill state’s almost three-decade tradition of voting out the incumbent government.
As the parties canvassed, a team of reporters of The Indian Express fanned out across the state to bring to readers a sense of what voters were thinking about, the issues they wanted their representatives to address, and the challenges before the two main political parties on the road to power.
The result is a compendium of ground reports, analyses, and interviews of the key political players in the battle for Himachal. Here are 10 articles you must read:
🔴 BJP banks on Modi as across Himachal, discontent brews over pension scheme, jobs
From Himachal Pradesh CM Jai Ram Thakur’s home district Mandi, Manoj CG reported on the BJP’s predictable campaign narrative built on the muscular nationalism of the Narendra Modi government and the “double-engine government”. He found the ruling party anxious over resentment among government employees and pensioners, the youth, and apple growers. The Congress, he wrote, is harping on this angst.
🔴 Freebies or welfare? First test for BJP in Himachal, Gujarat
Liz Mathew on how the BJP, having taken a “principled position” against freebies following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call against “revdi culture”, is doing “a complicated balancing act in the Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections in which its rivals have been generous with promises”.
Amil Bhatnagar compared the manifestos that the BJP and the Congress released for the 2017 elections and their list of promises this time.
🔴 16 voters and a hamlet called Ka: All quiet on this poll front
Amil Bhatnagar reported from the constituency of Ka in Kinnaur district that has only 16 voters — the lowest voter count among the 7,881 polling stations in the state.
🔴 Anurag Thakur: No ifs and buts about Jai Ram Thakur… BJP will cross 44-mark in Himachal
Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur told Rajesh Chander Sharma in an interview that the Jai Ram Thakur-led government had done wonderful work in Himachal Pradesh and “there were no doubts that the BJP was contesting the elections under his leadership”. The BJP leader also spoke of the Congress’s prospects and why he thinks his party’s promises cannot be categorised as freebies.
🔴 Prem Kumar Dhumal campaigns for BJP, gives party pension advice
Two-time Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, Anurag Thakur’s father, denied a ticket by the BJP, was nonetheless out to campaign for the party, Navjeevan Gopal wrote in his dispatch from the veteran leader’s home turf Hamirpur. “I have no regrets, it was a party decision,” Dhumal said. “I feel the party has given me a lot. I am satisfied.”
🔴 In Himachal town once hit by riots, voices near Atal Chowk: ‘Immense respect for Vajpayee, but…’
The town of Tissa in the constituency of Churah in Chamba district was rocked by riots in the run-up to the elections in 2017. Five years have passed, but the town and the nearby village of Khushnagri are still struggling to come to terms with the violence and complain about the lack of development, Divya Goyal wrote in her ground report.
🔴 Across parties, a reality check; Need to tackle Himachal drug menace
After Punjab, Himachal Pradesh recorded the most cases under the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS), 1985, according to the 2021 NCRB data. And both the Congress and the BJP have one thing in common – the promise to rid the state of drugs if elected to power.
🔴 A look at Congress CM contenders or, as BJP says, its problem of plenty
During campaigning, the BJP mocked the Congress saying it had several aspirants for the CM’s chair. Kanchan Vasdev took a look at five of the possible contenders for the top job if the Opposition party returns to power.
State Congress president Pratibha Singh, one of the party’s CM contenders, talked to Man Aman Singh Chhina about her party’s chances in the elections, the absence of her late husband and former CM Virbhadra Singh, and infighting in the party’s state unit.
🔴 Who gets the credit? Lahaul-Spiti BJP and Cong candidates fight over Atal Tunnel
Man Aman Singh Chhina reported from Keylong on how the Atal Tunnel, the longest tunnel in the world over an altitude of 10,000 feet, turned into a bone of contention between the BJP and the Congress in the Lahaul-Spiti constituency.
