Cong hopes rest on Virbhadra after lacklustre campaign
CHARISMA Raja Sahib takes on BJP might in a formidable challenge today
: At 83, Virbhadra Singh is a six-time chief minister with an electoral track record that few of his contemporaries can match.
But just when several of his party colleagues felt he would be thinking of winding down and started fancying their chances, Singh was ready for his next challenge. The indefatigable campaigner has given the poll battle his all after he was declared the CM face, as the stakes have never been higher for him.
Virbhadra and his family are facing corruption and disproportionate assets cases – they are being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Enforcement Directorate and the income tax department. Also, his son, Vikramaditya Singh, is making his electoral debut. He is contesting from the Shimla rural constituency that Virbhadra vacated for him.
The Congress, jolted by a string of losses in several states with the exception of Punjab since its worst-ever defeat in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, too, desperately wants to do well here. And the party’s hopes rest on the popularity of Raja Sahib, as the scion of the RampurBushahr royal is addressed by his supporters.
An enormous challenge, given the allegations of corruption and poor governance, his waning charisma, and, last but not least, the revolving-door syndrome. No party has retained power in the state in almost three decades. But Virbhadra, the oldest candidate in the fray, has slogged hard, exuding confidence throughout the canvassing.
“We have done major work in the past five years, opened thousands of new schools and colleges, set up health institutes, improved road connectivity and created job opportunities,” he said at a campaign rally, declaring development-oriented governance to be his strong suit.
On corruption, he has taken on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accusing him of “political vendetta” and played the victim. However, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh and party spokespersons, who held press briefings daily, kept the focus on goods and services tax (GST), demonetisation and inflation – in that order.
DISORGANISEDCAMPAIGN
But the party’s disorganised campaign could cost it dear. The party’s star campaigners either joined the electioneering only in the closing stages or gave it a miss. Rahul addressed three rallies on November 6, a day before the campaigning came to an end. The state leaders, including Himachal Congress chief Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, also confined themselves to their seats, leaving it to Virbhadra to counter the BJP blitzkrieg. For the BJP, the big guns were flown in. Besides Modi, BJP president Amit Shah, central ministers Rajnath Singh and Smriti Irani, UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath and Uttarakhand CM Trivendra Rawat addressed campaign rallies.
Besides hoping to make the most of the BJP’s internal wrangling in Kangra, the Congress is counting on its strong traditional pockets of support, particularly in upper Himachal, and its vote share has fluctuated between 38% and 49% in the last five assembly elections. However, it is worried about the impact of Virbhadra’s decision to shift out of the traditional ‘apple belt’ – it has 12 constituencies – to Arki assembly segment in Solan district and the disaffection caused by the gangrape and murder of a schoolgirl in Kotkhai. The voters are unusually quiet this time.