Jai Ram Thakur’s appointment may put a cap on ‘topi politics’ in Himachal

SHIMLA: The BJP’S decision to anoint Jai Ram Thakur, as Himachal Pradesh’s next CM, not only spells a generational shift in the state leadership, but might also be a sendoff to cap politics.

In Himachal, political loyalties were denoted by the colour of caps.

Former chief minister Virbhadra Singh wears a green band cap, while former chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal sports a maroon band cap.

Over the years these two colours had come to symbolise the two different political alignments.not only leaders, party workers also used to wear their loyalty on their heads.

One could easily discern a person’s party affiliation by looking at the colour of his cap. But this cap culture is all set to take the back seat, at least for the next five years as the Cm-designate Jai Ram Thakur wears no cap.

In Peterhoff, when BJP was deliberating over the chief minister’s name, many BJP workers, especially from Mandi’s Seraj region, had come wearing the multi-coloured Kullu cap.

“I think we should get over the

topi politics now. It has divided our culture. When you wear any of these two colours (maroon and green) people paint you as either a BJP or Congress loyalist,” said NK Khanna, a Sanjauli resident.

Cap politics used to often ignite a war of words in the state. For instance, when Virbhadra rejected the maroon band cap offered by his cabinet colleague Kaul Singh Thakur, at a

government function in the presence of Union health minister JP Nadda, Hamirpur MP Anurag Thakur was quick to slam him for dishonouring the Himachali cap.