Gujarat Himachal elections: With just a few weeks left for the Himachal Pradesh Assembly election, The Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) campaign appears to have lost its momentum in the hill state. The Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party campaigns, which have dominated the Assembly elections in the state, don’t seem to have any counter arguments from the party.
After a stellar performance in the Punjab elections, the speculation was made that this time the AAP will give a tough competition to the Congress and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in the state. But as AAP escalated its campaign in Himachal Pradesh with crowded roadshows, the party was unable to create the momentum of change and Freebies and shifted its attention to PM’s Modi home state, Gujarat.
Despite the dates for the elections in Gujarat have not yet been set, the majority of AAP figures from Punjab, including ministers and MLAs, are becoming increasingly visible there. Not only this party has already announced the 73 candidates in Gujarat. Whereas, in Himachal where the Assembly election is going to be on November 12 the party has struggled to identify a qualified leader who could develop the potential of its state cadre as well as who can compete in their various Assembly districts against the BJP and Congress candidates.
Political analysts claim that the newcomer AAP, is attempting to establish itself as the primary challenger to the BJP in Gujarat. Moreover, the state, which is a bigger state than Himachal Pradesh has more political and strategic relevance. But the party should not forget that Punjab elections have a history of influencing HP elections, thus this appears to be an excellent opportunity for the AAP to develop a foothold in the hill state. However, the party largely overlooked the state. All of this has led the party’s central leadership to turn its attention away from Himachal to Gujarat
It is very interesting to know that AAP has flourished in states where the Congress has been ineffective or where there is a strong anti-incumbency. For instance, the Congress ruled Delhi for 15 years until being ousted by the Aam Aadmi Party. The Congress and SAD faced renewed anti-incumbency in Punjab, which contributed to AAP’s sweep win. But this is not the case in HP because the state has a history of voting the ruling party out every five years since the 1980s.
When Kejriwal’s name appeared on multiple campaign banners early this year, the AAP got off to a strong start in Himachal Pradesh. As the central leader in charge of the state, the party selected Durgesh Pathak in March, a close ally of the Delhi CM. But in April, the party’s then state boss Anup Kesri, along with other prominent figures including general secretary Satish Thakur and Una head Iqbal Singh, joined the BJP.
Later, the Delhi minister Satyendar Jain was then detained by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with an alleged money laundering case. Jain was one of those in charge of the party’s Himachal electoral campaign at the time. Then, the party changed things up by appointing Punjab Cabinet Minister Harjot Bains as co-in-charge for state and Rajya Sabha Member Raghav Chadha as co-in-charge for Gujarat, who oversaw the HP & Punjab elections. While doing so, it’s Himachal campaign appears to be losing the lustre.
This time it is very interesting to know the people’s decisions during HP assembly elections since the BJP is counting on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the work accomplished by the Jairam Thakur administration. While the Congress is counting on the wife and son of former CM Virbhadra Singh, Pratibha Singh, to lead it back to power. The six-time chief minister of the opposition party, Virbhadra, passed away last year.