BJP gambles on PM Modi’s ‘charisma’ to win Himachal Assembly elections

KS Tomar

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The BJP high command has gambled in a big way on the ‘charishma’ of Prime Minister Narendra Modi by projecting him as the face of the party in the state Assembly elections, thereby relegating national president J P Nadda and Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur to the background.

In this complex scenario, the BJP has taken a huge risk as failure to ensure the success of ‘Mission Repeat’ may damage the national image of Modi as a vote catcher, which may give a handle to the Opposition in the 2024 parliamentary elections that are of utmost importance to the saffron party and the PM.

In an important development related to the polls, “The BJP did not intentionally issue notification about declaration of Hattee community as Scheduled Tribes in Sirmaur district hence people took it as a ‘jumla’ of Modi and Shah,” claimed five-time Congress legislator Harshvardhan Singh Chauhan, who is certain about voters’ support to the party in all five segments of Sirmaur district.

Contrary to it, Nadda may come under fire from critics if results did not go in favour of the ruling party but a victory will elevate his image as Himachal happens to be his home state. The outcome may not impact his future because he is poised to get an extension in January till the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

In this backdrop, Modi has declared in his rallies that he is like a ‘beta’ to the people of hill state due to the decade-old relationship with them and tried to focus on his personal stakes in these elections. Modi did not hesitate to appeal to the voters to vote in his name.

Keeping in view relevance of HP elections, Nadda took the entire control of strategy and poll management in his hands and left no stone unturned to neutralise the anti-incumbency factor which may hurt the BJP hard.

In view of aggressive campaign style of the BJP having an amalgam of stars besides well-oiled machinery of the RSS, the Congress was lagging far behind though new party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, two CMs, several senior Central and state leaders addressed rallies in various segments in the state.

The first takeaway from campaigning pertained to Modi’s skill of oratory and his direct connect with the people, especially due to micro level penetration by starting his election speeches with few sentences in local dialect.

Contrary to it, Congress top leaders, including Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, could not come to Himachal as the former has got health issues while the latter is busy in the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’. Owing to this factor, Priyanka was given the responsibility to steer through the Congress in these polls that too with a divided house and party cadres needed a huge motivation to take on the BJP and the RSS.

To counter Modi, Priyanka adopted a new strategy and based her speeches on the emotional chord of having her residence near Shimla and linked her grandmother wish with people of the hill state. She also tried to connect with the people on the basis of contributions made by the Nehru family, especially according the statehood by the late Indira Gandhi.

Interestingly, Nadda believed in pro-incumbency factor to ensure victory in poll amid the din of five-year anti-incumbency of the Jai Ram government and its lackluster performance.

The Congress came out with 10 lucrative guarantees, but the BJP tried to outsmart it by giving 11 points besides a special package to women voters, including 33% reservation in jobs. But none knows about the impact of such freebies announced merely a few days prior to polls.

According to political analysts, a million-dollar question is being asked by the common voters as well as in the corridor of power whether Modi’s ‘charisma’ coupled with vast resources of the BJP will be successful in neutralising the anti-incumbency factor of BJP government besides the horrifying woes of the people who are reeling under the sky rocketing prices of essential commodities?

Will Modi’s emotional connect supersede other factors like the GT imposed on even small eatables, high cost of petrol and diesel, desperation of youths due to unemployment problem, gas cylinder’s high price, loss of jobs etc.?

The answer lies with the electorates who have already given their verdict on November 12 and outcome will be known on December 8, the counting day?

(Writer is a senior journalist based in Shimla)