- Friday, April 19, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
INDIA’S ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of prime minister Narendra Modi faced a serious reality check on Tuesday (2) when they lost in all four seats in by-elections in the northern state of Himachal Pradesh. The state is currently ruled by the BJP and is set to go to elections in 2022 end.
The Indian National Congress, the other major player in the Himalayan state, made good gains as they won two seats and retained the other two, making it 4-0 against their main opponent party. The three seats that went to the bypolls included Arki, Fatehpur and Jubbal-Kotkhai assembly constituencies and the Lok Sabha constituency of Mandi.
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The bypolls that were held across the country recently were seen as a referendum on the performances of the Modi government in New Delhi in general and the BJP-ruled states in general. The outcome of the by-elections in Himachal Pradesh raised serious questions over the performance of state chief minister Jai Ram Thakur, who took office for the first time in 2017 when the saffron party replaced the Congress as the ruling party.
According to experts, the BJP dearly for the rising prices of fuel and essential commodities amid the Covid-19 pandemic, which has also hurt the tourism sector, one of the main pillars of Himachal’s economy. The fall in apple prices was also a reason for the adverse outcome, especially in Mandi where winning Congress candidate Pratibha Singh raised the issue of farmers’ agitation in her poll agenda.
Referring to the “year-long farm protest at Delhi borders”, she called the Modi government “andhi, behri, goongi aur tanashah sarkaar (a blind, deaf, mute and autocratic government)”.
There was also a grievance against chief minister Thakur who was accused of focusing on developing tourism around his home constituency of Seraj and not the overall potential across the state. Some young voters were also not impressed with the working of the Modi government in New Delhi, Indian daily The Indian Express reported.
The defeat of the BJP candidate from Mandi, which the saffron party had won in the 2014 and 2019 parliamentary elections, gave a big blow to chief minister Thakur who belongs to Mandi district. He conceded the defeat of his party in the bypolls.
In Jubbal-Kothai, the BJP’s losing candidate Neelam Saraik even lost her security deposit. It is said that the party lost its seat because of wrong selection of candidates and internal squabble. The BJP’s rebel candidate finished second after the Congress, ruining the saffron party’s chances.
A senior leader of the Congress told the Express that there was an anti-Modi wave in the run-up to the bypolls.
The loss of three assembly seats, however, did not hurt the BJP’s overall majority in the 68-member house.
