Himachal goes to polls on November 12; announcement for Gujarat later

Elections to the Himachal Pradesh Assembly will be held on November 12 and results will be announced on December 8. Nominations will begin from October 25.

No schedule, however, was announced for elections to the Gujarat Assembly. This prompted Congress spokesperson Jairam Ramesh to remark that this “was not at all surprising” as it has “obviously been done to give more time to the PM to make some mega promises and carry out more inaugurations”.

In 2017, too, the Election Commission of India had given a gap of about a fortnight between announcing the schedule for the Himachal Pradesh (October 12, 2017) and Gujarat (October 25, 2017) elections.

The term of the Gujarat Assembly ends on February 18 next year while that of Himachal Pradesh on January 8. In the last round of Assembly elections, too, the schedule was staggered: Himachal Pradesh went to the polls on November 9 while Gujarat had two rounds of polling on December 9 and 14. 

For Himachal Pradesh, the model code of conduct kicks in immediately, which means neither the central nor the state government can make any policy announcements that could influence voters.

Himachal Pradesh has a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in place, led by Chief Minister Jairam Thakur. The Assembly has 68 seats of which 17 are reserved for Scheduled Castes and 3 for Scheduled Tribes. Kangra is considered the seat of power: out of 68 seats, Kangra sends 15. Kangra gave Himachal its first non-Congress chief minister when the BJP formed the government under the leadership of Shanta Kumar in 1977.

The Congress has high hopes of beating the BJP in the tradition of Himachal Pradesh, which typically votes out an incumbent government. Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra launched the party's election campaign in Himachal Pradesh as the poll schedule was announced with a rally in Solan district of the state in a campaign called the 'Parivartan Pratigya Rally'. Congress leader and in-charge of the party’s Himachal campaign, Rajiv Shukla, said the party welcomed the election announcement. “We have been waiting for it, we’re ready and we are certain we will win the election by a two thirds majority,” he said.

The party has had some setbacks, however. Important leader and former Rajya Sabha MP Anand Sharma charged that he had been sidelined in the election process. The party appointed Pratibha Singh, widow of former Chief Minister Vir Bhadra Singh, the state party chief. But many younger leaders in the party had baulked at the choice.

The BJP has had its share of upheavals. In 2017, PK Dhumal, widely expected to become the chief minister, lost his own election, despite the BJP’s state-wide victory. After an extended power tussle, Jai Ram Thakur was named CM by central observers. National BJP President JP Nadda is also from Himachal Pradesh.

A new actor in Himachal Pradesh is the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). While chief minister of neighbouring Punjab, Bhagwant Mann, and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal have been campaigning, the party still has to open its account in the Assembly.

IN NUMBERS

5.5 million total voters

186,000 first-time voters

122,000 aged 80-plus

1,184 voters are above 100 years of age