With the announcement of Assembly elections in the hill State of Himachal Pradesh, the battelines have been drawn and there is a straight contest between the traditional rivals Congress and the BJP.
While Congress would be fighting anti incumbency of five years in the State, BJP would be fighting the anti incumbency of the Centre in the State which would test the political waters after concerns regarding slowdown in the Indian economy which has also affected Himachal Pradesh.
Congress has already managed to curb infighting by announcing its Chief Ministerial candidate even as doubts linger on in BJP as to who will be the party candidate—Union Health Minister JP Nadda who is considered to be close to the Central leaders or former Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal who has a wide support base in the entire State.
In his rally in Mandi early this month, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi named six-time Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, 83, to lead the party in the election campaigning and if the party returns to power he will be the Chief Ministerial candidate.
The Election Commission announced that the State would vote for a new Assembly on November 9 and the counting would be held on December 18. The term of the 68-member Assembly ends on January 7 next year.
The Congress is far ahead of its arch rival as far as campaigning at the grassroots level is concerned.
While Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh has already carried out a whirlwind tour of the State ahead the announcement of polls, the BJP is banking on its Central top leadership, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party President Amit Shah.
The only saving grace for the BJP is that its State election committee did the preliminary exercise of screening candidates for the 68 assembly constituencies at a meeting on Wednesday where Dhumal and Nadda were present, among others.
In the 2012 elections to the 68-member assembly, which saw a voter turnout of 73.92 per cent, the Congress won 36 seats, the BJP 26 and Independents six.
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh has already announced that he would not re-contest from the Shimla (Rural) Assembly seat that he is currently representing.
He has announced that his son Vikramaditya Singh would contest his maiden assembly election from that seat.
Congress veteran and eight-time legislator Vidya Stokes, 89, who is the Irrigation and Public Health Minister in the present Government, is planning not to re-contest owing to old age. She’s keen that Virbhadra Singh should contest this time from her bastion, Theog in Shimla district.
The Chief Minister is still weighing his options to contest from Theog or from some other seat.
“The Chief Minister can contest anywhere - from Shimla, Una or Kangra districts. This is his personal decision,” Vikramaditya said while confirming that he is contesting from the seat that his father currently represents.
Within the BJP there is too much confusion over who will lead the party in the elections, a senior State BJP leader, who did not wish to be identified, admitted.
He said the party is divided in two camps — one led by Dhumal and the other by Nadda.
“The party cadre and the leaders are totally confused over who the party leader is. Who will take the party to victory,” wondered a senior BJP leader, a Cabinet Minister in the previous Dhumal-led Government.
Ending months of speculation and turmoil within the Congress, Rahul Gandhi announced at a public meeting in Mandi town on October 7 that Virbhadra Singh will “become the Chief Minister for the seventh time”.
“Certainly, it has given a push to the Congress ahead of the assembly polls. There has been a massive public response after Rahul Gandhi announced my Chief Ministerial candidature,” an elated Virbhadra Singh told reporters in Shimla after the announcement by Gandhi.
“The BJP should also declare its Chief Ministerial candidate. let the people know who is going to be their leader. They will vote on the basis of CM (Chief Minister) face,” Virbhadra Singh said.
Congress leader and former Union Minister Anand Sharma, who is known in political circles as a “rival” of Virbhadra Singh, said: “It’s the policy of the party to give a chance to the sitting incumbent Chief Minister to lead the party in the next election."
He was here on Thursday and replying to a media query over announcing the Chief Ministerial candidate before the election results.
The BJP in 2014 lok Sabha elections had won all the four seats with a vote percentage of 53.85 per cent. At that time, the Congress, which was at helm in the State, got 41.07 per cent votes.