Subhash Rajta
Shimla, December 9
The BJP has been routed in Shimla, the third largest district in terms of seats after Kangra and Mandi that plays a crucial role in deciding the election results. Of the eight seats in the district, the BJP could win only in Chopal.
“I think voters fell for the Congress propaganda on the old pension scheme and the guarantee of Rs 1,500 per month payment to women. The voters were swayed by these two announcements and perhaps we could not counter these effectively enough,” said BJP candidate
Sanjay Sood, who lost elections from the Shimla (Urban) seat.
The BJP had won the Shimla (Urban) seat last time. Suresh Bhardwaj, who had won the seat in 2017, was shifted to the adjacent Kasumpti constituency at the eleventh hour but he lost to Congress candidate Anirudh Singh. “We were winning the Rampur seat in the EVM counting. However, our candidate lost by a narrow margin after postal ballots were counted,” said Sood, highlighting the impact of the old pension scheme in the
constituencies that witnessed a close contest.
BJP candidate Shashi Bala lost to Congress candidate Mohan Lal Brakta in the Rohru constituency. She also blamed the OPS and the Rs 1,500 per month payment guarantee to women for her defeat. “By and large, these two promises hurt the BJP the most. There are other reasons as well for our defeat like the presence of a rebel candidate in my constituency. We could not counter these issues,” said Shashi Bala.
Sood said, “Our central leaders campaigned in the state but local leaders had to address shortcomings at the local level. In my case, I failed to manage things as nicely as I would have liked. I tried but it was too late by then.”
He said that the BJP would not be discouraged by the election results. “We will continue doing the good work that we have done in the past five years,” he added.
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