The mocking comments made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the ruling Congress has already accepted its defeat and left Virbhadra Singh in the hands of the fate is not on false grounds.
As the D-day is nearing in the poll-bound Himachal Pradesh, BJP is all up on its toes with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, himself being the star campaigner while it seems like Virbhadra Singh is the only one left in Congress to campaign for the party.
Narendra Modi leading the campaign in Himachal Pradesh has addressed nearly half a dozen election rallies in past four days and is also planning to address more such rallies, than scheduled for him. In contrast to BJP, the incumbent Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh is the only star campaigner of Congress. He, at 83 is addressing four to five rallies each day in various parts of the state.
‘Raja Sahib’ as Virbhadra Singh is popularly known as, at times travels by helicopter, but most of the times he is on the roads citing that he does not have adequate funds for campaigning as the Central government has seized all his bank accounts in regard to charges of corruption and irregularities in Income Tax accounts.
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister alleged the ruling BJP at the centre of playing political vendetta against him. He said that “the Centre has unleashed the IT department, the Enforcement Department as well as the CBI to probe just one case.” However, the plea made by Virbhadra may find some comfort in Himachal Pradesh as the people believe that only for a petty amount of Rs 4-5 crore, it is unlikely for the Raja Sahib to indulge in corruption.
On one hand other than Modi, other BJP party star campaigners who have been frequenting the state are union finance minister Arun Jaitley, union home minister Rajnath Singh, union health minister JP Nadda, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath and a host of other senior leaders from the region. Contrary to this, a few Congress leaders who were assigned the duties for election campaigning did not even bother to come out their hotel rooms in Shimla.
A senior Congress leader and a former minister confessed that “What’s the point in addressing an election rally if there are few people to listen to you?”
The current tenure of the Chief Minister has not been very appealing, especially the outburst of the people against the government after the recent gangrape and murder of a 14-year-old girl, though Virbhadra Singh claims to be the builder of modern Himachal. Regarding the Gudiya incident, as the gangrape is referred, it was alleged that sons of highly influential persons were involved in it. But the police very conveniently arrested some innocent workers from outside the state.
Thereafter, a CBI inquiry was done which led to the arrest of the investigation officer arrested some innocent workers from outside the state. This incident has highly impacted the image of the ruling Congress in Himachal Pradesh and the people are thinking of favouring the BJP.
Another advantage that BJP may use in its favour is that the main weapons of demonetization and GST that the Congress is using are not very impactful in Himachal Pradesh. As per the opinion of the experts, the reason behind this is “Himachal is not known for its trading community. Commercial activities and production of goods are also restricted. It has thus remained largely insulated from the impact of GST. Besides the Centre has recently extended tax concessions for Himachal a few months ago.”
Therefore, BJP has an upper hand over Congress in this area also, unlike in Gujarat, where the people are not very happy with the implementation of GST. Another major reason backing the BJP is that almost from each family in Himachal, at least one member holds a state government job. These people holding government jobs have also become a bit restless and want a change of government every time to extract more concessions, which the BJP has ensured if voted to power.
All tides turning towards BJP has boosted the confidence of the party members and it seems as if like the party has already pre-announced its victory. Former Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh and the BJP candidate in the upcoming polls, Prem Kumar Dhumal, in an interview with the press claimed that the party will get more than 60 seats out of the 68. He said that initially, the party had aimed for 50+ seats, but as per the current scenario and the response that BJP is getting from the people, it seems like the party will win more than 60 seats.
“We have had a massive outreach to Dalits and thousands of Dalit families are supporting us. Our mahila and youth morchas have worked hard and even various employees’ associations are with us. Our aim was getting 50 plus, but most probably we would go beyond 60,” he said.
He also mocked that the Congress’s slogan of zero tolerance against corruption is a joke. He questioned that “there were only drugs mafia, mining mafia, land mafia, alcohol mafia. There is only mafia. Where is the government?” Attacking his opponent, Virbhadra Singh, he said that during his tenure of five years as the Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, the only achievement of Singh is that he managed to complete five years.
He further added that under the reign of the Congress, the law and order situation is in utter chaos and the people have lost their faith in the administration of the government. He also alleged that the state government did not undertake so many schemes implemented by the central government and the economic well being of Himachal Pradesh is in question now.
Emphasising on his priorities if elected to power, Dhumal said that “My first priority would be to improve the credibility of the government and its responsiveness towards the people. The Gudiya incident, that of a little 14-year old girl raped and murdered in Kullu area, the murder of a forest guard — when did you hear of such incidents in Himachal? The state government has been turned into a government of retired, tired and rehired.
The state will go to polls on 9 Nov and the results will be announced on 18 Dec.