Curtains on high-pitch campaign for 4 LS, 6 Assembly seats in HP
Pratibha Chauhan
Shimla, May 30
The curtain came down on a high-octane campaign for the four Lok Sabha seats and bypoll to the six Assembly seats in Himachal for which polling will be held on June 1.
Long treks for poll parties
The polling party for Ahlemi booth under Mehla block in the tribal area of Bharmour trekked 15 km to reach its destination. Similarly, poll parties trekked 11 km to Pandar village in Dodra Kawar area of Shimla and 13 km to reach Chakki polling booth in Bhattiyat Assembly segment of Chamba district.
37 candidates in LS poll fray
A total of 37 candidates are in the fray for the four Lok Sabha seats of Mandi, Kangra, Hamirpur and Shimla (reserved). Besides, 25 candidates are contesting the bypoll for the six Vidhan Sabha constituencies of Dharamshala (Kangra), Gagret and Kutlehar (Una), Sujanpur and Barsar (Hamirpur) and Lahaul Spiti.
Even as the BJP gained a head start in the campaign with early finalisation of candidates, the Congress managed to play catch-up, basing its fightback on the failed ‘Operation Lotus’, accusing the BJP of enticing its six MLAs.
However, notwithstanding the aggressive posturing by the parties and candidates, the silence of the voters is keeping the netas guessing about their fate.
With the BJP winning all four Lok Sabha seats in 2014 and 2019, the Congress faces an uphill task of wresting these back. With issues very pertinent to the populace — such as the Agnipath scheme and the old pension scheme — working in favour of the Congress, the BJP’s hopes rest with the Modi charisma and the 10-year performance of the NDA.
While the BJP is confident of winning all four Lok Sabha seats, as in 2014 and 2019, the Congress appears confident of wresting at least two seats, with the contest appearing to be very close for the Mandi and Shimla seats. The Congress is hoping to win at least four of the six Assembly seats, which will help consolidate its government against any future onslaught by the BJP.
The campaigning has been quite vitriolic and aggressive, with personal barbs being exchanged by leaders, especially over the Mandi Lok Sabha seat, which has attracted disproportionate attention after BJP fielded actress Kangana Ranaut to take on Vikramaditya Singh of the Congress.
With Mandi being the cynosure of attention, all star campaigners — especially BJP’s, including PM Narendra Modi, BJP president JP Nadda, Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari — addressed election rallies in support of Kangana.
The stakes for Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu are very high, with the Congress desperate to ensure the defeat of the rebels who had left the party and are now seeking re-election on the saffron ticket.
CM Sukhu and Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur have traded charges on “failed Congress guarantees”, and there have been personal attacks by the six disqualified Congress MLAs, especially Sudhir Sharma (Dharamsala); but it’s the six Assembly bypolls that have made the election campaign very spiteful and bitter. The CM has tried to strike an emotional note by focusing on the BJP’s failed ‘Operation Lotus’, terming it an effort to pull down a democratically government.
Apart the Mandi contestants, the other candidates — including Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur and former Union Minister Anand Sharma, trying his electoral fortunes from Kangra parliamentary seat — have maintained political decorum, refraining from making personal attacks.
A total of 37 candidates are in the fray for the four Lok Sabha seats of Mandi, Kangra, Hamirpur and Shimla (reserved). Besides, 25 candidates are contesting the bypoll for the six Vidhan Sabha constituencies of Dharamshala (Kangra), Gagret and Kutlehar (Una), Sujanpur and Barsar (Hamirpur) and Lahaul-Spiti. These had fallen vacant after the disqualification of the Congress MLAs for defying the party whip in the Assembly.
A total of 57,11,969 voters, including 66,390 Services voters, will cast their vote on June 1. There are a total of 29,13,050 male voters, 27,98,850 women voters and 35 third gender voters in the state. Polling will take place at 7,992 stations across the state, with some being located in very remote areas.
For the Congress, it was Priyanka Gandhi who led the election campaign and devoted four days to the state, addressing rallies and going on roadshows across the state. She hit out at PM Modi and the BJP for “trying to change the Constitution”.
The BJP campaign ended today with Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath addressing two election rallies — at Kullu and Barsar in Hamirpur. Union Minister Nitin Gadkari addressed an election meeting at Karsog, which is part of the Mandi Lok Sabha seat.
CM Sukhu wrapped up the campaign by addressing five election rallies at Dharamsala, Dehra, Dharampur, Sujanpur and Kutlehar.
