Ahead of counting of votes on December 8, Himachal Pradesh witnessed hectic political activities on Sunday as parties formulated their strategies keeping in mind post-poll scenario.
The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) top brass, along with candidates who contested elections, went into huddle in Dharamshala to assess the outcome.
Independents and rebels remained the main focus of the meeting as the party expects photo finish results in Himachal which has a history of political volatility. The state changes government every five years and the trend is in continuity since 1985.
Himachal BJP chief Suresh Kashyap presided over the meeting in Dharamshala which was attended by party’s national vice-president Saudan Singh, chief minister Jai Ram Thakur, former MP Avinash Rai Khanna, Sanjay Tandon and Devender Rana besides others.
The BJP is expecting a close contest in the elections. Party insiders admit that the BJP, because of an undercurrent against the government, could well be below its 2017 mark of 44 seats. In the meeting, candidates also gave their feedback on scenarios in their assembly segments. There were complaints about elections being sabotaged internally. Participants of the meeting discussed the internal surveys conducted by the party to assess its position and damages caused by the rebels. The contenders in the elections collectively called the party leaders not to adopt a soft approach towards the rebels. The BJP is anticipating that of the 21 rebels, 12 had damaged the prospects of official candidates.
Former legislator Tejwant Negi is contesting from the Kinnaur assembly segment, which made the contest triangular. He represented Kinnaur from 2007 to 2012, but lost in 2012 and 2017. The BJP denied him the ticket this time.
{{/usCountry}}Former legislator Tejwant Negi is contesting from the Kinnaur assembly segment, which made the contest triangular. He represented Kinnaur from 2007 to 2012, but lost in 2012 and 2017. The BJP denied him the ticket this time.
{{/usCountry}}KL Thakur, another former MLA, is also locked in a triangular contest in Nalagarh. He was elected to the assembly in 2012, but lost in 2017. The BJP this time gave ticket to Lakhwinder Singh Rana, a two-term Congress MLA, who switched sides ahead of the elections.
Among the BJP rebels are former party leader Praveen Sharma in Mandi, former vice-president Ram Singh in Kullu besides Manohar Dhiman in Indora, Vipin Neharia in Dharamshala, Subash Sharma in Bilaspur, Kripal Parmar in Fatehpur, Hoshiyar Singh in Dehra, Indira Kapoor in Chamba, Hiteshwar Singh in Banjar, and Rajkumar Kaundal in Jhandutta.
Interestingly, the assembly segments with rebels had witnessed a high polling percentage this election.
BJP is going to form the government again: Jai Ram
“After discussion with all the candidates, the same thing has come to the fore even today that the BJP is going to form the government again in Himachal. All the candidates have expressed their gratitude to the leaders and workers who worked in the elections. In a state like ours, the difference between victory and defeat is not much and all of us have done our duty well,” said Jai Ram.
Until the election results are declared, there is no need to discuss other issues,” he said while addressing reporters.