BJP rides high on unprecedented victory

Pratibha Chauhan
Tribune News Service
Shimla, May 23

If one thought that the BJP had created history in 2014 elections, one was proved wrong as it is now that real history has been created with the party polling almost 70 per cent of the votes, winning all the four Lok Sabha seats with mammoth margins.

The Congress had to face a humiliating defeat as it is for the first time that Congress failed to get a lead in any of the 68 segments in the state. Even in the 2014 parliamentary polls, the Congress had got a lead in nine Assembly segments but this time it drew a nil all over the state. 

Party candidate Ram Lal Thakur from Hamirpur and Dhani Ram Shandil from Shimla segment, despite being sitting MLAs, trailed even in their own Assembly segments, indicating the huge tilt in favour of the BJP this poll season. Riding high on Modi wave, especially when Prime Minister Narendra Modi considers Himachal his second home, the grand scale of the victory came as a pleasant surprise even to the BJP leaders. Such was the Modi wave that the Congress trailed in the segments represented by stalwarts not marginally but big margins. While the victory brought cheers to the BJP, there was utter disbelief and gloom in the Congress camp as they couldn’t believe that they had been wiped out.

The BJP enjoyed a lead of 29,454 votes in Arki Assembly segment represented by Congress star campaigner Virbhadra Singh while in his son Vikramaditya Singh’s segment of Shimla Rural, the BJP had a lead of 15,962. 

The Congress party trailed by 17,310 votes in Theog, the home segment of state Congress president Kuldeep Rathore and in Haroli by 14,921 votes, the segment represented by CLP leader Mukesh Agnihotri. Even in Dalhousie, the segment of Asha Kumari, AICC General Secretary wo is an MLA, the Congress trailed by a huge margin of 28,422 votes.

With this being the first election fought under the leadership of CM Jai Ram Thakur, the convincing victory will immensely help him gain stature. Thakur consolidated his position with the vote share of the BJP going up from 53.85 per cent in 2014 Lok Sabha polls to almost 70 per cent, a feat not achieved by any other party till date in electoral history of Himachal. The party not just retained its hold over all four seats but won with mammoth margins.

What is worrisome for the Congress is that its traditional strongholds of Rohru, Rampur, Kinnuar and Lahaul Spiti also crumbled under the Modi onslaught. The party could not put up a respectable fight in Shimla, considered its bastion for long. Suresh Kashyap of the BJP won by 3.27 lakh defeating Dhani Ram Shandil. Last time in 2014 BJP’s Virender Kashyap had won the seat by a margin of 84,187 votes.

Shot in the arm for Thakur

• With this being the first election fought under the leadership of CM Jai Ram Thakur, the convincing victory will immensely help him gain stature. 
• Thakur consolidated his position with the vote share of the BJP going up from 53.85 per cent in 2014 Lok Sabha polls to almost 70 per cent, a feat not achieved by any other party till date in electoral history of Himachal. 
• Party retained its hold over all seats with mammoth margins.
• Congress'strongholds of Rohru, Rampur, Kinnuar and Lahaul-Spiti also crumbled under the Modi onslaught.

Factors at play

• It is riding high on the persona of PM Narendra Modi that the BJP crafted such a spectacular win. 
• The Ujjawala scheme of providing gas connections to all households, payment of Rs 2,000 to Rs 4,000 in accounts of farmers and the much talked-about healthcare scheme worked well for the BJP. 
• Clean image of Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur and his down-to-earth approach was well appreciated.
• Also, a well managed campaign, launched well ahead of the Cong, down to the booth level had BJP well rooted. 
• A fragmented Congress, devoid of a strong leadership, no election strategy and fund starvation spelled doom for the Congress.

The landslide win of the BJP is attributed to the persona, development and strong leadership of PM Narendra Modi. The mandate is clearly for the 5-year NDA rule, which brought relief to every section of society, especially women. Also, in our 15-month rule, we brought succour to every section of society. — Jai Ram Thakur

The BJP’s victory is a stamp of approval on the works done by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which the Congress could not do in its 70-year rule. He has provided a corruption-free regime. The people also gave a thumbs-up to the 15-month-old BJP regime, headed by Jai Ram Thakur.  — Satpal Singh Satti, BJP chief

The results are on the unexpected lines as national issues like unemployment, economic crisis and corruption in Rafael deal were overshadowed by the emotive issue of nationalism. People got swayed with Pulwama and surgical strikes, giving the BJP the landslide win.  — Kuldeep Rathore, HPCC chief

 The Congress organisation has collapsed and the BJP played up non-issues to divert the attention of the public from core issues. The Congress was trapped in the game plan of the BJP to keep it away from core issues. — Rakesh Singha, CPM

I have doubt on the authenticity of the electronic voting machines as I could not have trailed from my own Assembly segment of Kangra despite the Modi wave in the state and the country . It is unbelievable.   — Pawan Kajal, Cong candidate from Kangra

The unprecedented Modi wave worked on the ground to help the BJP win in a grand fashion. The fact that the common man identifies himself with PM Modi worked in our favour, plus the clean and pro-people 15-month BJP rule in Himachal.  — Kishan Kapoor, BJP Kangra nominee