Officers carrying digital voting machines to polling cubicles by a bus, in Mandi, Himachal Pradesh.
Shimla:
Over 55 lakh voters will vote within the 68 meeting segments in Himachal Pradesh at the moment. On the nub of the battle is whether or not the BJP succumbs to the Himalayan state’s “rivaaj”, or custom, of adjusting the federal government.
Listed below are the highest 10 factors on this large story:
-
The ruling BJP, which is promoting Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s face together with Jairam Thakur, has been insisting that “continuity” is essential to growth. Its chief argument is that the “double engine” — identical get together’s governments in state and on the Centre — will guarantee work is not hindered. It cites one other Himalayan state, Uttarakhand, for example of defeating the change-every-election pattern.
-
The Congress, which says the election is about native points, needs the voters go by the four-decade custom of voting out the incumbent. Beset with a management disaster ever because the dying of veteran Virbhadra Singh, the get together says it will sail again to energy as its seat-wise ticket allocation has been “significantly better than earlier than”. Virbhadhra Singh’s spouse Pratibha Singh is the state unit chief; son Vikramaditya Singh is amongst candidates.
-
Within the BJP, which has 21 rebels, the competition is a status difficulty for its nationwide chief JP Nadda too. He was as soon as a minister within the state underneath Prem Kumar Dhumal. Mr Dhumal is amongst these not contesting — he insists he is retired on his personal, although the “denial of ticket” to him and others has made headlines, all of the extra as a result of many leaders cried on stage.
-
The BJP acquired Union ministers and UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, seen as an aggressive face of its Hindutva ideology, to marketing campaign in Himachal. For the Congress, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra held rallies whereas her brother Rahul Gandhi most well-liked to not depart his ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ for the ballot marketing campaign. Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress’s first non-Gandhi chief in 24 years, campaigned too.
-
Whereas the Congress has run a low-key marketing campaign in PM Modi’s stronghold Gujarat, which votes subsequent month, it might want to win Himachal to reverse its downslide and hearth up its cadres. The get together has did not win, or make a big affect, in 9 states in about two years.
-
Early this 12 months the Congress misplaced energy in Himachal’s neigbouring state Punjab to the Aam Aadmi Get together. The AAP is contesting Himachal however its focus, evidently, was on Gujarat.
-
Congress’s promise of restoring the pre-2004 Outdated Pension Scheme turned a serious difficulty because the state has over 2 lakh authorities workers. The BJP has promised implementation of Uniform Civil Code and eight lakh jobs within the state. On pension, it says that “if anybody would restore the outdated scheme, it is going to be the BJP”.
-
These elections come forward of 9 state elections due subsequent 12 months, together with the Hindi heartland states of Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh — the one states the place the Congress has chief ministers — and Madhya Pradesh.
-
Apart from Chief Minister Jairam Thakur from Seraj, vital candidates embody minister Suresh Bhardwaj from Kasumpti, Congress Legislature Get together chief Mukesh Agnihotri from Haroli, Vikramaditya Singh from Shimla Rural, and Congress marketing campaign committee chief Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu.
-
For the voting from 8 am to five pm, the Election Fee has arrange 7,884 polling stations, together with three in far-flung areas. Its highest sales space is in Tashigang in Kaza in Lahaul-Spiti district, at a peak of 15,256 ft, for 52 voters.