Margin of 452, Kashyap survived scare at home

Solan, June 4

Even as the BJP candidate Suresh Kashyap managed to retain the Shimla Lok Sabha seat for the second time, he faced opposition in his home turf Pachhad, where he registered the least margin of 452 votes. Hailing from Sirmaur district, Kashyap secured a lead in all five Assembly segments with the highest lead of 15,313 votes being secured in Paonta Sahib, followed by 7,941 in Nahan, 4,485 in Shri Renukaji and 2,317 in the Shillai Assembly segment.

79-day campaign

• A well-organised campaign, spread over 79 days, helped Kashyap win the seat. He had secured the party ticket in mid-March and had ample time to campaign against less than a month available to the Congress candidate, Vinod Sultanpuri. He barely got time to introduce himself to the masses, which also went in the BJP’s favour

The BJP polled 30,508 votes in the five Assembly segments of Sirmaur district and Kashyap won the seat by 90,548 votes, with Solan district contributing the highest lead of 52,106 votes.

Meanwhile, Kashyap’s performance in Pachhad has raised many questions about his declining influence on his home turf. Though the seat is held by BJP’s MLA Reena Kashyap, it remained a strong Congress bastion earlier.

Aggressive campaigning was done by the Congress leaders comprising Dyal Pyari, who had switched sides from the BJP after being denied an Assembly ticket. Kashyap had reportedly opposed her candidature and this had compelled her to leave the party and join the Congress. Though she had contested the 2022 Assembly election unsuccessfully, she holds a considerable sway in the segment. Efforts of seven-time former Congress MLA GR Musafir also contributed to Kashyap’s lacklustre performance in Pachhad.

However, the BJP benefited from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rally in Nahan, which saw a big turnover from across the district.

The BJP merely holds the two of the five seats of Paonta Sahib and Pachhad in the district, but it secured lead in Nahan, Shillai and Renuka Ji segments as well. Shillai is the home turf of Industries and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Harshwardhan Chauhan and Renuka Ji is held by Deputy Speaker Vinay Kumar. They could not muster lead for the Congress.

A well-organised campaign, spread over 79 days, helped Kashyap romp home. He had secured the party ticket in mid-March and had ample time to campaign against less than a month available to the Congress candidate, Vinod Sultanpuri. He barely got time to introduce himself to the masses, which also went in the BJP’s favour.