Himachal votes in Congress; faction-ridden BJP left in the lurch

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Himachal Pradesh has lived up to its reputation of not returning an incumbent party to power.

All the results were not in, but the Congress appeared to be perched comfortably and was ahead in 39 of the state’s 68 assembly seats, while the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party-led in 26.

Perhaps the single most important factor that went in favour of the Congress was the party’s handling of factional politics.

“The Congress, very deftly, did not put up an official chief ministerial candidate for the polls, which greatly helped in curbing dissent,” said Ashwani Sharma, a veteran reporter of Himachal politics.

In comparison, the BJP’s tactic of replacing sitting ministers and MLAs with new faces, which worked elsewhere, came up a cropper in Himachal Pradesh.

The BJP fielded 19 new faces, having replaced 11 sitting MLAs and changed the constituencies of two ministers. In addition to open factionalism, it became a party of rebels who waited for the elections to show their hand. And that is what they have done.

Pension scheme

The Congress party’s promise to restore the old pension scheme if voted to power may have also turned the tide decisively in its favour.

“The old pension scheme will benefit retired employees in a big way,” Mohan Singh, a retired irrigation department official, told Moneycontrol.

There are about 2.5 million government employees in the state, of which 150,000 are covered under the New Pension System. Employee associations have protested against the new scheme in Shimla, Mandi, Kangra, and Solan.

The old pension scheme, under which the entire pension amount was paid by the government, was discontinued in the country on April 1, 2004. According to the new scheme, employees contribute 10 percent of their basic salary towards their pension while the state government contributes 14 percent.

Among the other Congress promises that appear to have worked was the payment of Rs 1,500 per month to women. This was among the 10 guarantees that the party offered, apart from 300 units of free electricity and the purchase of cow dung at Rs 2 per kg.

In comparison, BJP president JP Nadda’s promise of a more “inclusive” society for women was a lukewarm attempt to woo voters.

In November, expelled BJP leader Kripal Parmar, contesting as an independent candidate from Kangra, got a call from no less than Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to exit the contest and continue to work with the BJP, revealing that no one – including at the party’s highest levels – was under any illusion about discontent in the party.

Sadly for the BJP, the call appears to have come too late.