As the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) continues with its aggressive election campaigning in Himachal Pradesh to retain power, a feat that no party has been able to achieve in the State until now, it seems like the rebels in about 20 Assembly constituencies, including the politically significant Kangra and Mandi districts, could dent the ‘mission repeat’ ambition of the party.
Moreover, not just the BJP, Congress, the main Opposition party, is also grappling with rebellion in its ranks, but the rebels are relatively less in numbers. Out of the 68 Assembly seats, the BJP is facing a challenge from rebels in about 20 constituencies, and the Congress in close to a dozen.
The rebels in the fray include former MLAs and Ministers who were upset for denying party tickets while other workers were denied tickets to fit turncoats from opposition parties.
The Kangra district, which has the maximum number of Assembly seats (15), is often regarded as politically most significant district in Himachal Pradesh. In Kangra, Vipin Nehria, BJP’s State vice-president of ST Morcha is a rebel from the Dharamsala seat against BJP’s official candidate. In Dehra, Hoshiar Singh, who in the last election won as an Independent and later joined the BJP, is in the fray as a rebel. Former MLA Manohar Dhiman in Indora seat and former MP Kripal Parmar in Fatehpur, who were expelled from the party are contesting as rebels.
As the BJP fights the challenge to retain power, the electoral battle in Mandi, the home district of Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur is being keenly watched where Mr. Thakur’s prestige is at stake. In 2017, the BJP won nine Assembly seats of the 10 in Mandi district, virtually sweeping and helping the BJP to form the government. However, this time, the party is bracing serious contest in several seats. In Mandi’s Sadar constituency, former Union Minister Sukh Ram’s son Anil Sharma is the BJP’s official candidate, while its spokesperson Praveen Kumar Sharma has filed nomination. In Sundernagar, Abhishek Thakur, the son of former Minister Roop Singh Thakur, has also turned rebel. Another party leader Gian Chand is in the fray from Nachan seat against BJP’s official candidate.
In Kullu district, Ram Singh is a rebel from the Kullu constituency against BJP’s Narottam Singh. Hiteshwar Singh, son of former BJP MLA Maheshwar Singh is a rebel from the Banjar seat and Kishori Lal is contesting from Anni. In Hamripur district Sanjeev Kumaris is in the fray as a rebel in the Barsar constituency while in Bilaspur district Raj Kumar Kaundal is contesting as rebel in Jhanduta, besides Subhash Sharma in Bilaspur Sadar. Former BJP MLA Tejwant Singh Negi is contesting as a rebel from the Kinnaur seat in Kinnaur district while ex-MLA K.L. Thakur from Nalagarh in Solan district is another rebel in the fray. In Chamba district, Indira Kapoor is a party rebel. She was replaced initially given the party ticket but later was replaced with Neelam Nayyar, wife of incumbent MLA Pawan Nayyar.
For the Congress, rebels continue are making party candidates’ tasks stiff in Pachhad, Chopal, Anni, Theog, Sullah, and Arki constituencies, among others.
The rebellion in both the parties is a cause of worry as the margin was narrow in the previous Assembly elections. In the 2017 election, the margin between the winning and the losing candidates was below 5,000 votes in at least 34 constituencies. Also, there were 20 seats, which saw margins less than 3,000 votes. Out of these, there were six segments, which saw a nail-biting finish with the vote margins being 1,000 or less.
In the past three decades, the State has seen a bipolar contest with the Congress and the BJP alternatively forming the government. This time, the electoral fight yet again largely seems to be between these two traditional rivals – the Congress and the BJP. However, with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) announcing to contesting on 67 seats and the BJP-Congress rebels jumping into the electoral fray as Independent candidates, making both the BJP and the Congress nervous just ahead of casting votes.
