Today’s assembly vote in Himachal Pradesh is an acid test for both the Congress and the BJP. While for the Congress it is a sort of referendum following the slew of scams hitting it and its poor showing in UP, for the BJP, it’s another step in its quest for the Delhi throne, if it can retain the state.
The huge political storm is also over cooking gas and corruption. While corruption acts on the minds of the 46 lakh electorate, it is mehengai that’s turned out to be the big poll issue in the hill state where people eke out a living in inhospitable terrain, thousands of feet above sea level.
Face-to-face in this election are the two political heavyweights, BJP’s P K Dhumal, the incumbent CM, and state Congress chief and former CM Virbhadra Singh who will take on each other following a month of mud-slinging over corruption charges.
And, both parties pulled out all stops — sending all its top leaders including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, L K Advani, Narendra Modi — in the run-up to the polls.
So, for the 459 candidates in fray for the 68-seat state assembly, it’s a do-or-die fight.
The potential party pooper could be the newly formed Himachal Lokhit Party, formed by BJP dissident Maheswar Singh that has fielded 36 candidates. The BSP has 66 candidates and NCP 12. The Trinamool Congress and the Left are also in the fray.
Along with corruption and inflation, the anti-incumbency factor will weigh on the minds of candidates, with the state not having returned any party to power in the last five elections since 1990.
AT A GLANCE
Constituencies 68
Candidates 459
Electorate 46,08,359
Polling stations 7,253
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