As the poll results trickled in on the giant screen in “Holly Lodge”, the Congress party slowly gained confidence. There were the traditional laddoos, the Himachali song and the victory march.
While the magic number was 35, Congress scored a comfortable victory by capturing 40 seats in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections, results of which were revealed on Thursday.
While the BJP placed its weight behind a low-key Chief Minister Jairam Thakur, the Congress tried to play it safe without having a CM face. This happened at a time when some Himachal Pradesh Congress leaders were nurturing ambitions for the CM chair. The Congress also focused on keeping its leaders united by not naming a CM face.Till the time previous Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh was alive, he was the CM face for Congress in the hill state. Post his death in 2021, the party chose not to name anyone.
Himachal Pradesh Congress head Pratibha Singh, wife of Virbhadra Singh, her son Vikram Aditya and the likes of Sukhwinder Sukhu and Mukesh Aghnihotri are in competition for the CM post.For a change, it was the BJP that encountered challenges with rebels who contested as independents. The Congress succeeded to crush insurrection in their ranks this time around. Poll results showed that in at least nine seats the BJP lost due of the rebels cutting into the party vote, giving Congress the edge.
ROPING IN EXPERTS
The “backroom guys” of Congress were actually tried and tested politicians in the form of Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Bhagel, his Rajasthan counterpart Ashok Gehlot , Rajeev Shukla and other regional leaders who came to the rescue during the strategy.
AICC General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi was hands on when it came to Himachal Pradesh. Even though the command was in the hands of Mallikarjun Kharge, team Congress jointly remained firm despite the carpet bombing of leaders from the BJP.
JP Nadda, the head of the BJP, made his appeal mostly in Himachal Pradesh, along with Anurag Thakur. The central leadership led by PM Modi, Amit Shah and even the UP CM Yogi Adityanath made multiple rounds, but the electoral strategy of Congress worked as it stuck to topics relating to farmers, inflation and unemployment.
EXISTING PENSION SCHEME
The issue was an Achilles heel for the BJP. The Congress grasped the chance by proclaiming that they will revive OPS in its first cabinet meeting.
NATIONAL VS LOCAL ISSUES
The BJP brought up the uniform civil code, Article 370, and Hindutva while the Congress concentrated on preserving local issues.
The Congress wrested Himachal Pradesh from the BJP, winning 40 seats in the 68-member Assembly. On Thursday, the outcomes of the assembly elections from November 12 were announced.