Congress supporters celebrate in Kullu, Himachal Pradesh

New Delhi:

The Congress has managed to return to power in Himachal Pradesh, although the vote-share margin is not as large as it would have aimed.

The BJP failed despite a resource-driven fight to reduce the trend of changing governments in 5 years in this hill state.

Important information related to the case:

  • Rebel candidates:

    BJP had rebel candidates in 21 out of 68 seats.

    Only two of them won, the other independent who won was a Congress rebel.

    In such a situation, whatever votes the rebels got, they would have gone to the BJP.

    In a state where each constituency has less than 1 lakh votes on an average, a small change can mean a lot.

  • Myself:

    Despite being the home state of BJP National President JP Nadda, Himachal saw a game of three factions.

    One was led by Nadda, the other by Union Minister Anurag Thakur, and the third by Chief Minister Jairam Thakur.

    The party declared Jairam Thakur as its face in the state, but Anurag Thakur was seen as a potential challenger.

    He even publicly praised the hard work of his father, former Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal.

    But he was not given a ticket.

    However, Dhumal and the party insisted that he had decided to retire.

    If the BJP needed to pacify the rebels, Dhumal was seen as a possible wingman.

  • Custom:

    It is said about Himachal that life moves slowly in this peaceful state and people change in every election.

    This is the custom there.

    Which was also an issue in the election.

    This also proved to be a primary factor as to why the Congress got a chance.

    Politicians and pundits point to the high level of education and political knowledge being a part of life in the hill state.

  • 'OPS' promise:

    The Congress campaign was fueled by the promise of reviving the old pension scheme, as a large section of the population is in government jobs.

    The BJP pitched a "double engine", which meant that the same party in power at the Center and in the state guaranteed development on all fronts.

    But the Congress insisted that local issues matter most.

  • Low-key, local:

    In contrast to the BJP's push under PM Narendra Modi, the Congress ran a campaign that relied on local leaders, managing their own constituencies.

    Rahul Gandhi sticks to his 'Bharat Jodo Yatra', sends only one appeal on polling day.

    Although Priyanka Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge held rallies.

    There was factionalism, but the leadership gave a clear message that to become the chief minister, the party has to win, and that happens only by being united.

    The factions headed by state unit chief Pratibha Singh, senior leaders Mukesh Agnihotri and Sukhwinder Sukhu managed to hold on, and it grew.

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