The high-voltage Himachal Pradesh elections have come to an end. What started as a nail-biter fight between the BJP & Congress soon saw the age-old party delighted into victory securing 40 seats out of 68 and the former walking on a tightrope. Congress polled 43.9% of vote while BJP polled 43.0% vote. The hill state continued with its tradition of bringing an alternate government
After tasting defeat in Uttarakhand, With BJP's landslide victory, a state with many similarities to Himachal, both known for bringing alternative governments & upper castes domination in politics, much wasn't left for Congress to anticipate its victory in Himachal. Rajput and Bramhin constitute 50% of the Himachal population. The Congress' leadership was also in doldrums due to which it faced a major defeat in the 2019 Lok Sabha, followed by assembly elections of various states & parliamentary elections. With Congress-majority governments left only in Rajasthan & Chattisgarh, the party was desperate to make a comeback. It became crucial for congress to maintain the main opposition space which was challenged by AAP after their impressive win in Punjab. So, what changed and how did the party manage to win against BJP's rigorous campaign?
The BJP swept the 2019 parliamentary elections in Himachal with a 69.5% vote share, the highest in the country. BJP was leading in all the 68 Assembly segments of Himachal in the 2019 Parliament election. The first glimmer of hope for Congress was 2021 By-polls where it swept all 4 seats constituting 3 assemblies & 1 Mandi parliamentary constituency. This was the first time in the history of the hill state that the ruling government had lost all seats in the by-polls.
The Mandi Parliamentary constituency stretches to 17 constituencies and was won by 3-time MP Pratibha Singh in the 2021 by-poll, wife of late CM Virbhadra Singh. Maintaining the sentiments, she was handed over Himachal congress reins as the President replacing Theog's Kuldeep Singh Rathore. Pratibha Singh now had dual challenges- the infighting in Congress & fighting BJP.
The central leadership of Congress took a strategic decision. They made Pratibha Singh as the party president but did not contest in the state assembly elections 2022. This left an opportunity for other prominent leaders like Mukesh Agnihotri, Sukhwinder Sukhu to be aspirational CM candidates. Congress fought the election without any CM face. It was collective leadership that came to their rescue.
The Himachal Congress has credited victory to AICC General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi. After her ‘Ladki hun, lad sakti hun' campaign managed to garner appreciation but fell flat on the ground in Uttar Pradesh. Priyanka Gandhi realised that the only way to defeat BJP is by holding them by neck on the local issues. Mr. Rajiv Shukla, in charge of Himachal Pradesh supported Priyanka Gandhi at his best. Congress carefully stayed away from anti-Hindu and anti-army stance in Himachal Pradesh. She maintained a distance from the pro left group within Congress. Rather, senior leaders Mr. Bhupesh Baghel & Mr. Deepender Hooda were roped in. A popular youth face in the country, Sachin Pilot also campaigned within the state. The campaign was managed beautifully by Mr. Vinod Verma who is political advisor to Mr. Bhupesh Baghel. Meanwhile, all the firebrand BJP leaders from national party president JP Nadda, UP CM Yogi Adityanath, Union Minister Anurag Thakur to Union Minister Rajnath Singh campaigned on the national leadership lines. However, this time Congress had realised that BJP cannot be defeated whilst attacking PM Modi in the state elections. Congress did not fight an ideological battle which BJP has already mastered.
Gandhi's speeches focused on OPS, agniveer, apple farmers, unemployment & inflation, She and the congress leaders did not let BJP budge from the local issues until the last day of the elections. A very hard-streamlined party narrative proved successful for the Himachal Congress. It won the trust of the people by fighting for OPS since the Congress had already implemented it in Rajasthan & Chattisgarh. Meanwhile, BJP found itself in a pool of huddles to support OPS because other BJP-ruled states would have also demanded the same.
All state capitals host the maximum number of government employees. In Himachal, Congress swept the capital Shimla district by winning 7 out of 8 assembly seats, while BJP was able to win only one seat from the district. OPS issue paved way to Congress' victory. At the same time, Hamirpur & Kangra districts are known as 'Veer-bhoomis' of Himachal. Our War hero, Late Mr. Vikram Batra was from Palampur, Kangra district. Hamirpur was considered as BJP's stronghold but Congress won 4 out of 5 seats sweeping it off from BJP. In the Kangra district, Congress won 10 out of 15 seats. Often called the Kingmaker district, the Agniveer issue made a huge dent to BJP.
In the initial months of ticket distribution, the Congress party also saw a divide between the old & the new camp. The disgruntled youth congress members were set to resign when Priyanka Gandhi took quick notice and resolved the infighting to put up a strong face. More than 10 rebel candidates were in the fray but the congress kept hold of its arithmetic throughout the campaign.
The Congress included the local issues in their manifesto and also mobilized youth in several districts via launching a massive ‘Rozgar Sangharsh Yatra'. The youth leaders Shimla MLA Vikramaditya Singh & AICC secretary RS Bali, the son of congress stalwarts late Virbhadra Singh & late GS Bali respectively were made the convenors and thousands of youths flooded the streets against rising unemployment in the state.
The hill state has seen the dominance of 2 stalwarts from Congress & BJP. 6 times Chief Minister, Congress' late Raja Virbhadra Singh & Ex-Chief Minister, BJP leader Prem Kumar Dhumal, also the father of Union Minister Anurag Thakur.
After the demise of the late Raja Virbhadra Singh, an emotional wave in the state became prevalent. Meanwhile, the demise of state minister late GS Bali, also a congress stalwart sent emotional ripples down the lower Himachal belt. Banking on legacy, congress appealed to the people to pay their tribute to the two congress stalwarts. Congress made the family members to contest the election from these two families apart from making Prathibha Singh as president of Himachal Congress.
On the contrary, Ex-CM Prem Kumar Dhumal, a BJP stalwart lost the 2017 assembly elections which paved the way for Jairam Thakur as Chief Minister, leaving Dhumal's loyalists in a lurch. Neither Mr. Dhumal nor his family members contested the Himachal election 2022. The divide was even visible during ticket distribution where Dhumal's loyalists turned rebels.
After the by-poll 2021, BJP rejoiced in Congress' exodus, Congress lost two sitting MLAs Pawan Kajal & Lakhwinder Rana. Another shocker for congress came when Ex-CM Virbhadra Singh loyalist & working state party president Harsh Mahajan- joined BJP. The efforts were to pull strong candidates of Congress towards BJP. However, the Congress leaders latched onto each other seeing a silver lining in OPS.
As a result, Congress won the hill state after losing a series of State elections. It was indeed a much-needed victory for the age-old party when the questions on its significance were in abundance. It won the state by running a no-nonsense, old-fashioned, non-ideological & understated campaign.
This article is written by Diksha Yadav.
Source of the data is www.chanakyya.com