Difficult for AAP to make inroads into Himachal: Leaders

Lalit Mohan

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Dharamsala, March 13

The landslide victory of AAP in Punjab has caused concern among politicians of border areas of Himachal Pradesh.

Kangra and Una districts that have 20 Assembly segments are directly influenced with developments in Punjab. Ruling and opposition party leaders fear that instead of bipolar elections, Himachal might go in for a triangular contest in case AAP enters the state and disgruntled leaders of both Congress and BJP might look for greener pastures in AAP in the next Assembly elections.

However, the leaders of both Congress and BJP tried to suggest that AAP might not have any impact in the next Assembly elections in the state that are scheduled for November this year.

Sudhir Sharma, former minister and AICC secretary, said though the Punjab elections were not going to have much impact in Himachal, it is lesson for the Congress that it should put its house in order. The party leaders in the state should sink their differences and not take victory for granted.

Raghuvir Singh Bali, AICC secretary, said AAP had not been able to make any dent in states other than Punjab. It had failed to win even a single seat in Uttarakhand. In Punjab, the situation was different. There was anti-incumbency against the Congress government and people did not want to vote for SAD and BJP and hence AAP emerged as a third alternative.

Moreover, AAP had been working at the ground level in Punjab for the past 10 years and had built its cadre. In Himachal, AAP would not be able to get a foothold that easily as both Congress and BJP were deeply entrenched cadre-based parties, he said.

Trilok Kapoor, state general secretary of the BJP, said AAP would not have any impact on the Assembly elections here. Himachal was a hill state and people here are not going to get swayed by allurements being offeredn by AAP. Uttarakhand was a clear example.