Himachal and Gujarat dates

WITH the announcement of a schedule for the Himachal Pradesh Assembly poll, the Election Commission has set in motion a very consequential electoral battle. Even though the hill state will vote on November 9, the counting of votes would take place only on December 18, by which date the Gujarat voters too should have exercised their franchise. Himachal Pradesh has developed a “convention” of voting out a government every five years; but, since we now live  in a New India in which old conventions and old traditions need no longer detain us, the Himachali voter should logically approach his sacred duty with an open mind. Till recently the incumbent Congress appeared to have pushed itself into a hopeless corner; now the mood in Himachal and the country appears to have changed perceptively.

Indeed, ever since he has been declared as the chief-ministerial face of the Congress, there is a new spring in Raja Virbhadra Singh’s step. After weeks of endless wrangling, the Congress appears to have put its house in order, whereas the Himachal BJP stage is overcrowded with ambitious and warring chief-ministerial candidates. It would be instructive to watch how an established and authentic regional leader (Virbhadra Singh) is able to blunt, if at all, the appeal of a national leader (Narendra Modi.)

The Election Commission has done itself no favour by withholding an announcement about Gujarat. It was widely understood that the Nirvachan Sadan brass would also be declaring the dates for Gujarat along with those for Himachal Pradesh. Once the election dates are announced, the Model Code of Conduct kicks in and some sort of a level playing field gets set.  The commission has allowed an impression to gain credence that it has deferred to the BJP’s preferences;  the BJP rivals have argued that the commission has gone out of its way to accommodate the ruling party as Prime Minister Modi is scheduled to hold a rally on October 16, where he could possibly shower  “goodies” on the Gujarat voters. Whatever be the election commissioner’s calculations, the Nirvachan Sadan’s institutional prestige and reputation stand somewhat diminished.