BJP workers in Himachal Pradesh are not happy about the exclusion of Shanta Kumar, the founder of the party in the hill State and a political stalwart of this region, from the Central Cabinet list.
This decision of BJP high command has sparked off great resentment in the rank and file of the party workers in the State in general and Kangra in particular, which is the home district of Shanta Kumar. The decision has also provided the Congress with arsenal to attack their main rival in the State.
The Congress, which faced humiliating defeat in the recently held lok Sabha election where they lost all of the four parliamentary seats, have suddenly got an issue to gain political mileage and are jubilant over it. Senior BJP leaders from Himachal told The Pioneer that the imprudent behavior meted out to the party’s veteran leader in the State by Narendra Modi has done irreparable damage to the party’s moral in the State and has given the virtually dead Congress a point to rejoice about.
Meanwhile, many senior Congress leaders are leaving no stone unturned to mock the Himachal BJP and went up to the extent to say that Modi has cracked a cruel joke on Himachal Pradesh, which was quite expected.
However, political experts in the hill state said that being straight forward is a negative aptitude in politics and hence a good politician should
be flexible. They also confided that Shanta Kumar’s age should not be a bar for granting him a cabinet position, if at all that point is raised, because he is quite active even at the age of 79 and some best leaders all over the world have been octogenarians.
It was only because of his tireless efforts in all the 17 assembly constituencies of Kangra that his party won with such a big margin of around 2 lakh votes.