Himachal voters prefer change to continuity: Congress leader Sukhu

The BJP government in Himachal runs via remote control from Delhi, says Congress's election panel chief in the state.

Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, one of the Congress’ most popular leaders in Himachal Pradesh (HP) and its campaign panel chief in the state, tells Aditi Phadnis why he thinks the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government can be ousted in the upcoming Assembly elections, what the Congress will do if it comes to power, and why the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will have to wait. Edited excerpts:

Weren’t you a bit disappointed that the Congress did not appoint you chief of the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) in HP in an election year?

Not really. I’ve been PCC chief before. Frankly, in politics, whatever I’ve done, I’ve reached the top as chief: I began politics as a student and became chief of the Congress’ youth wing. I was state president of Youth Congress when leaders like Manish Tewari and Randeep Surjewala used to be national Youth Congress presidents. I became the Congress state unit chief and had the longest term in that position.

In fact, the party has given me responsibility far more than that. I’m now the chairman of the campaign committee, a position held by our former chief minister (CM) Virbhadra Singh for nearly 40 years before we lost him. In addition, I’ve been made a member of the Screening Committee that is responsible for giving tickets to nominees. I may become a member of the Congress Working Committee as well. I’m not especially anxious about this.

The BJP lost all the recent by-elections. The Congress won all seats. But the entry of AAP soon after has the potential to create problems for you…

The by-elections were held after the death of our stalwart, Virbhadra. Elections were held to three Assembly elections and one Lok Sabha seat. We won it all. They were the first set of elections held after his death. When he was alive, we had also lost a clutch of by-elections.

Ahead of this round of by-elections, we resolved to send a message that the Congress was completely united. Price rise was very high during that time. We nursed that feeling among the people, and the unity in the party also paid off. We highlighted the governance and other drawbacks of the BJP in the state. I say this because our catchline is ‘Modi se bair nahin, Jairam ki khair nahin’ (no grudges against Modi, but Jairam (Thakur, the CM) had better watch out).

You mentioned AAP. This is not the first time HP is seeing a three-cornered contest. When the BJP first came to power (in 1998), Sukh Ram’s party, the Himachal Vikas Congress, was the third pole. Year 2007 saw the Bahujan Samaj Party in HP. In 2017, the Loktantrik Morcha came into being. In 2022, we will see the AAP. In HP, it will take them time to establish themselves as a credible alternative.

Whenever there is a third party, it nibbles away 3-4 per cent votes. They might get that. But it won’t only be at our expense, they will also take away the BJP’s votes. They will get the votes of those who are angry with the government, with the Opposition, with the whole system…. AAP will get their vote. But not much more than that.

HP voters are very discerning in this aspect: they wait to see who is in a position to form a government and tilt in that direction. Voters prefer change to continuity. The overwhelming feeling about the government in place is: ‘inko to sabak sikhana hai’ (we have to teach them a lesson).

What makes you so confident you’re going to form the government?

Why should people bring the BJP back? For the first time in our state, we had an incident of spurious liquor and seven people died. For the first time, we saw a leak of exam papers for government jobs. It was caught this time. God knows how many times it has happened before in the four and a half year tenure of the BJP government? How can the government allow exam papers to leak, so that only those who are paid-up members of the BJP and relatives of party leaders get to land government jobs?

In any case, what has the BJP done by way of governance that is new? The government in the state runs via remote control from Delhi. The leaders can’t think for themselves, nor are they encouraged to. Unemployment in HP is in double digits. Eighty per cent of the state’s population lives in villages and semi-urban areas. But because of the percolation of education, there is enormous political awareness. People read and they understand: the cost of living is a real problem and they discuss this among themselves.

However, the stars are not aligned in favour of the Congress…

If that were true, we would not have won the by-elections. Yes, we have suffered setbacks. But when we’re on a losing streak, people only see the deficiencies. When we win, people see the positives.

I feel we should be confident in HP if we’re transparent in our choice of candidates and we field good, honest people. If we come to power, we’re going to have a law to make the assets of the Members of the Legislative Assembly transparent and open.

We have other ideas on governance. One is that the government will fix a minimum support price for milk. Procurement of milk in the state is chaotic. We will streamline it, offer to buy 10 kilos of milk from every family, set up chilling plants, and resell the milk in the market at a subsidy: we will recover costs by levying a cess on the sale of alcohol. Milk for alcohol: how does that sound?

There are many other governance ideas as well and you should wait for our manifesto.