Straight Fight | Himachal Pradesh

In the 2014 Lok Sabha poll, Himachal Pradesh, which had hitherto always supported the ruling party in the state in the general election, backed the opposition BJP due to the 'Modi wave'. The BJP won all the four seats of Kangra, Hamirpur, Shimla (reserved) and Mandi, where even the mass appeal of the then chief minister Virbhadra Singh could not help his wife Pratibha Singh win the election.

The BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, who was party in-charge of the state two decades ago, apparently had the pulse of the people. Today, however, the situation is different; unemployment and demonetisation have become the talking points ahead of the May 19 Lok Sabha election.

The Congress and the BJP have not only alternated power in the state since 1985, but also shown a similar trend in the Lok Sabha poll. The BJP has a new leader in five-time MLA from Seraj, Jai Ram Thakur, who took over as the chief minister after former CM Prem Kumar Dhumal lost the election. Jai Ram is hopeful that people will vote for the BJP, as they "have a soft corner for Modi".

The BJP has given tickets to two sitting MPs in Hamirpur and Mandi, and replaced the other two. The Congress, too, has seen a leadership change with Mukesh Agnihotri as the leader of the opposition and Kuldeep Rathore as the state Congress chief. "The failures of the Modi government, unemployment, demonetisation, GST, Rafale, lack of remunerative prices for farm produce and the poor performance of the state government are the major issues," says Rathore.

With former Union minister Sukh Ram back in the party, the Congress has reason to be optimistic about the election result. The BJP, on the other hand, may cash in on the air strikes with Himachal being home to 400,000 families of security personnel.

(By Rajiv Phull)