The Congress on Thursday got an absolute majority in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections, winning 40 seats – six over than the half-way mark of 34 in the 68-member House, while the outgoing BJP was reduced to 25.
Acknowledging the adverse mandate, outgoing Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, under whose leadership the BJP went into the polls, told the media here: “I respect the people’s mandate and I want to thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other Central leadership during last five years. We will stand for the development of the state irrespective of politics. We will also analyse our shortcomings and improve during the next term.”
Many outgoing ministers including Suresh Bhardwaj, Ram Lal Markanda, Sarveen Chaudhary, Rakesh Pathania, Govind Thakur, Virender Kanwar, and Rajiv Saizal lost the election. Three Independents, comprising two BJP rebels and one Congress, emerged victorious. Himachal Pradesh has not voted any incumbent government back to power since 1985.
Thakur, 57, retained his stronghold Seraj in Mandi from where he has won six consecutive elections — 1998, 2003, 2007, 2012, 2017 and 2022 — by a margin of over 22,000 votes over Chet Ram of the Congress.
In the 2017 assembly elections, the BJP had won 44 seats and the Congress 21, with one seat going to CPI-M, and two to Independent candidates.
Prominent victorious Congress leaders included journalist-turned-politician and prospective Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri, 60, from Haroli – for the fourth time, former state party chief Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu, 58, from Nadaun, the seat he is representing fourth time in Hamirpur district, former Urban Development Minister Sudhir Sharma from Dharamsala, Rajinder Singh Rana from Sujanpur, Col. Dhani Ram Shandil, 82, from Solan, and second-time lawmaker Vikramaditya Singh, son of six-time Chief Minister late Virbhadra Singh.
Six-time Congress MLA Asha Kumari lost her stronghold Dalhousie from her nearest rival and BJP candidate D.S. Thakur by a margin of 9,918 votes. Asha Kumari was among the Chief Ministerial probables.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who didn’t campaign in the state, thanked the voters for the Congress’ win.
Considering the family legacy and contribution, Congress state unit chief Pratibha Singh had sought votes in the assembly polls on purported development carried out by her husband Virbhadra Singh during his six terms as the Chief Minister. Pratibha Singh, who has not contested the Assembly polls, has been projected as the prospective Chief Minister too.
Pratibha Singh, who won the Mandi seat in the 2021 Lok Sabha bypoll, missed no opportunity to remind the electorate that the victory in assembly election “will be a tribute to him (Virbhadra Singh)”.
Mincing no words, Pratibha Singh told the media after the party’s straight win that the family of Virbhadra Singh has played an ‘important role’ in this election, and considering the contribution of Virbhadra Singh for the state, then party President Sonia Gandhi appointed her the state president.
Well ahead of the Assembly polls, the Congress had appointed the three-time MP as the state unit president.
Pratibha Singh also banked on the party’s promise to bring back the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) that will benefit 225,000 employees, a crucial vote bank.
Experts have termed a return to the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) for government employees as a financially ruinous move, which will eat into the revenue of states and prove unsustainable over the long run. OPS’s defining feature is a guaranteed monthly payout that gets adjusted for inflation. OPS was replaced with the National Pension System (NPS) by BJP-led NDA government in December 2003. NPS acts like a giant mutual fund, thus easing the financial burden on the Centre and the states.
Punjab, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, all ruled by non-BJP governments, are also working on a return to OPS. Arvind Kejriwal had also promised to bring back OPS to voters in Gujarat.
(With IANS inputs)
