Himachal Election Result 2022 | Congress ousts BJP, bags 40 seats

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The Indian National Congress has won the Himachal Pradesh (HP) elections, bagging 40 of the 68 seats up for grabs. With this, the party will now be in power in three states, including Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan.

By voting the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) out of power, the people of Himachal Pradesh have kept up the tradition of not repeating the incumbent regime.

The saffron party got 25 seats and outgoing Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur has submitted his resignation to governor of Himachal Pradesh.

Meanwhile, the Congress is planning to shift its elected members out of state state for a meeting, fearing possible poaching attempts by the BJP.

Political experts say the key factors that worked for the Congress was the 21 BJP rebels in race, tradition of not repeating the government and anti-incumbency. In HP, governments have been voted out in every election since 1985. The BJP had hoped to end the trend with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s strong appeal and its motivated cadre.

The Congress had waged a low-pitched campaign in the hill state as its central leadership was busy with the party’s presidential polls and a crisis in Rajasthan, where a number of MLAs had submitted their resignations.

Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi was busy with the Bharat Jodo Yatra and did not campaign in the state, where polls ended on November 12.

The responsibility to lead the campaign fell on All India Congress Committee (AICC) General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who addressed dozens of rallies and road shows.

For the BJP, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the star campaigner. He spearheaded the campaign and sought another term to fulfil the promises the party had made in the last elections. He solicited votes saying that he will count every vote given to the BJP as a blessing.

During her campaign, Priyanka Gandhi had cornered the BJP for failing to provide employment to the youth of Himachal. Lack of jobs has been a major issue over the past five years, especially among people in the lower Himachal districts of Hamirpur, Mandi, Kangra, and Una.

She had also collared the BJP on the issue of restoring the old pension scheme, and said that the Congress governments of Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan had already implemented the scheme.

Apart from Priyanka Gandhi, the top leadership had mostly relied on local leaders. During ticket distribution, India’s Grand Old Party had stuck to the safe route of fielding incumbent MLAs in Himachal Pradesh.
In 2017, the Congress had won only 21 seats in the state, less than half the BJP’s tally of 44.

In its 51-page manifesto titled `Himachal, Himachaliyat, aur Hum,’ (Himachal, Himachalness, & Us), the party made a slew of promises to the people of the state. It had assured one lakh jobs, free electricity up to 300 units, restoration of the old pension scheme, and a Rs 680 crore startup fund.

Earlier when tally showed an unassailable lead for the Congress in Himachal Pradesh, Bharatiya Janata Party conceded defeat.

"I respect the verdict of the people and would be handing over resignation letter to the governor," Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur said.

Pradeep Gupta, Chairman and Managing Director, Axis My India said "People’s dissatisfaction with inflation, an antiquated pension system, and a desire for change were the main factors that led them to vote for the Congress despite the close race between the BJP and Congress. In contrast to Gujarat, our exit polls showed that the hill state saw 45% of the male population vote for Congress, and the majority of the votes were casted by the labour classes.

Additionally, the party received a significant portion of votes from the Dalit cadre. While a clear preference was witnessed for the BJP amongst the savarna Thakur/Rajput and Brahmin voters, reflecting their support for Narendra Modi, several others expressed clear discontent with the state's chief executive, Jai Ram Thakur, for his underperformance, Pradeep Gupta added.