Why Mandi is important for BJP and Congress in Himachal Pradesh

The district has 10 Assembly segments, and the BJP has dominance in almost all these seats

Himachal Pradesh has been witnessing a fierce political battle between the BJP and the Congress in the light of the upcoming Assembly elections scheduled for November 12. The results will be out on December 8.

Mandi district has become a battleground for the two rival parties in the state.

The district has 10 Assembly segments — Mandi, Seraj, Balh, Sundernagar, Dharampur, Darang, Karsog, Sundernagar, Nachan, and Sarkaghat.

The BJP has dominance in almost all these seats, which helped the saffron party win the 2017 state elections. But in the 2019 Lok Sabha by-elections, Pratibha Singh, the wife of former chief minister Virbhadra Singh gained power here, keeping the Congress alive in the district.

In the Mandi seat, considered a traditional stronghold of Congress veteran Sukh Ram, who passed away in May this year at the age of 92, the BJP has fielded his son Anil Sharma, who will have to contend with a party rebel Praveen Sharma. Both candidates are upper caste contestants in a seat where their population is over 44 per cent.

The Congress, on the other hand, is fielding Champa Thakur from the seat, daughter of party veteran Kaul Singh Thakur. Rajputs account for about 30 percent of the seat’s population.

In her rally at Mandi, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra announced that her party will create 5 lakh jobs and set aside Rs 680 crore for a startup fund.

Prime Minister Modi too campaigned in the Mandi district. He urged people not to change government every 5 years. He said, "Changing medicines frequently does not help in curing an ailment. You have to stick to one medicine for a long period to gauge its effectiveness... taking different medicine every week will not help anyone. Himachal Pradesh has made the same mistake."