Localised campaign helps Congress win Himachal

In the hill state of Himachal Pradesh, with a localised campaign, the Congress managed to ensure that the state did not buck the trend of electing a new party every term, despite the best efforts of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

The Congress managed to win 40 seats in the 68-member assembly, increasing its tally from the 21 seats it won in 2017. The party’s vote share of 43.90per cent is an increase from the 41.7per cent it managed to win in 2017. The BJP, on the other hand, won 25 seats, but was only marginally behind the Congress in terms of vote share at 42.99per cent.

AICC spokesperson and the state Congress media in-charge Alka Lamba said that the party had decided that they will not fight the election against the prime minister, and instead attack chief minister Jairam Thakur, raising only local issues.
Also Read — With only two wins in assembly polls, 'Royals' losing their charm in Himachal Pradesh

“On issues like the Uniform Civil Code and Article 370, we decided to not engage with the BJP. Instead, we found out that the Old Pension Scheme was a flashpoint, as well as the rising prices with cylinders costing Rs 1150. Party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had assured the youth that all existing government vacancies will be filled, and we raised Agniveer in regions like Kangra and Hamirpur that send a significant number of men to the Indian army,” Lamba said, adding that the party’s 10-point guarantees were publicised in as many as 125 press conferences.
The BJP, on the other hand, centred its campaign on prime minister Narendra Modi, but had to contend with the issue of dissidents – it denied tickets to as many as 11 sitting legislators from its 44 MLAs and started the campaign with the rebellion of 23 leaders. The party managed to quell some of this but the results show that that was not enough – as many as 8 of its 12 ministers.

This includes forest minister Rakesh Pathania, education and IT minister Ram Lal Markanda, MLA Govind Singh Thakur, food minister Rajinder Garg, health minister Rajiv Saizal, social justice minister Sarveen Chaudhary, and rural development minister Virender Kanwar, were among those who lost. Sitting legislator Mahender Singh had vacated his seat for his son Rajat, who lost as well.

The BJP managed to put up a decent fight in the Mandi region, winning 6 of the region’s 10 seats. On the other hand, the Congress won big in the Kangra, Shimla, Una, Hamirpur, and Solan regions. Some key Congress leaders, including Asha Kumari who had won for six terms from the Dalhousie seat, Kaul Singh Tkahur and Ram Lal Thakur, too, lost from their seats.