In the wake of a formidable Modi wave, the political scenario in Himachal Pradesh has totally turned in favour of the BJP and the ruling Congress party faces a threat of its decimation.
The results in the Parliamentary elections 2014 had turned the tables against the Congress. In the constituencies of the Congress stalwarts like Health Minister Thakur Kaul Singh, Rural Development Minister Anil Sharma, Excise and Taxation Minister Prakash Chaudhary and Chief Parliamentary Secretary Sohan lal Thakur, all from Mandi district, the BJP succeeded in getting a good lead against the Congress.
The main reason of the Congress defeat is said to be mega scams in the country during the Congress led UPA Government at the Centre and serious charges of alleged corruption against Virbhadra Singh, in two cases of payoffs submitted to the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, by the BJP leader, Arun Jaitley, with adequate documentary evidence.
All the leading news journals of the country carried stories against Virbhadra Singh, who did not demonstrate a moral liability to step down and bring in any other legislators in his place till the outcome of inquiry against him. He was charged with lust for power and his deep obsession to introduce his son as his heir. Of the 17 constituencies falling in the Mandi Parliamentary constituency, the Congress got a marginal lead merely in five segments falling mostly in backward tribal belt where the former rulers are held in high esteem.
These segments were Bharmour, lahaul and Spriti, Seraj, Rampur and Kinnaur. In rest of the 12 constituencies, the BJP succeeded in getting a big mandate from the people beating all the previous election records since Independence.
Virbhadra Singh and his wife were made to bite the dust by the formidable Modi wave, which he had been all along denying till the declaration of results.
Another major cause of his defeat is said to be his “bullish enmity” with former Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal and his sons. The political experts believe that at the cost of development, Virbhadra exhausted his energies in framing false cases against his detractors. He could not reconcile with the rise of Anurag Thakur, son of Dhumal, who succeeded by his vigorous efforts to elevate Himachal Pradesh on the world map of cricket.
During the election campaign, the BJP candidate, Ram Swaroop Sharma, had highlighted in public meetings that the senior Congress leaders still recall that how Virbhadra Singh manipulated in the Congress High Command for denying a Congress ticket to party stalwart, Thakur Karam Singh, who is still adored in Himachal for his honesty and integrity. Karam Singh would have become Chief Minister long back.
The voters of Mandi were also told how Sukh Ram, former Union Minister, sent to Shimla to swear in as Chief Minister, was not allowed to become CM. The BJP workers along with the RSS cadre and an army of devotees of Baba Ramdev also went from door to door and left no stone unturned to rout the Congress from Himachal.
But the strongest impact on the people, particularly the youths, was of the speeches of Narendra Modi during the rallies in Himachal Pradesh and elsewhere in the country.
The crackdown on Baba’s ashram at Solan also sparked off great anger and resentment among the people in Himachal and elsewhere in the country. Baba had pledged to end the corrupt rule of the Congress. Surprisingly, an unknown Ram Swaroop Sharma got a lead in the constituencies of the Congress stalwarts leading to a total rout of the Congress.
Former BJP minister Mahender Singh lamented that Virbhadra Singh had announced that if the BJP won all the four seats in Himachal, he would not only resign from the post of Chief Minister, but also renounce politics.