Battle of prestige in hills as voters take their pick today

SHIMLA: Over 50 lakh voters will cast their votes in Himachal Pradesh on Thursday to decide the winner of the ‘battle of prestige’ between two traditional rivals, the Congress and the BJP.

The two parties have been fighting each other for decades, but never before has the election seen such a parade of national leaders, high-pitched campaigning and hectoring attacks, often transcending the boundaries of acceptable political rhetoric.

The BJP sees itself as a natural claimant this time due to the state’s revolving-door electoral history. Also, the election in HP and Gujarat, which will go to poll next month, are being seen by some as a test of public support for demonetisation announced exactly a year ago and the GST. The Congress, which has started showing some semblance of recovery after a series of poll reverses with the exception of Punjab, is up against anti-incumbency.

In the absence of a perceptible wave, the two parties have gone all out, peppering each other with accusations and indulging in competitive populism like never before. The BJP has run a high-octane campaign, targeting the Congress and Virbhadra on corruption, law and order and unemployment.

Virbhadra responded barb for barb, and maintained a punishing schedule with development as the central theme of his campaign. The Congress central leaders, including Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, went after Modi on GST and demonetisation.