The BJP wrests power from the Congress in a keenly fought election marked by a few upsets.
IN THE SINGLE-PHASE ELECTION TO THE Himachal Pradesh Assembly on November 9, which registered the highest ever turnout (75.28 per cent) in the history of the State, the electorate of Himachal Pradesh voted the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to power. The BJP’s return to the seat of governance in the State after a gap of five years was not a surprise because no party has managed to win elections successively and retain the reins of power since 1985. Yet, the elections to the 68member State Assembly were keenly contested between the incumbent Congress and the opposition BJP. While six-timeCongressChiefMinisterVirbhadra Singh led his party’s campaign, his political adversary and former Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal was the face of the BJP.
Compared to the number of high-octane rallies in Gujarat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed only seven in the State, leaving most of the campaigning to Dhumal. The high-decibel campaign in Gujarat was in contrast to the largely subdued campaigning in Himachal Pradesh.
While the BJP secured a thumping majority, its Chief Ministerial candidate lost, as did the party’s BJP State president, Satpal Singh Satti. Dhumal lost from Sujanpur by 2,933 votes. The winner, Rajinder Singh Rana of the Congress, was once his protege. He had successfully contested as an independent in 2012 too.
Dhumal’s relative and former Speaker Gulab Singh Thakur also lost. The defeat of the BJP heavyweights in the face of anti-incumbency and a decisive two-thirds majority was inexplicable.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der January 5, 2018-Ausgabe von FRONTLINE.
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