RAHUL’S EXCESSIVE INVOLEVMENT IN GUJRAT MAKES CONGRESS’S CHANCES DIM IN HIMACHAL

The elections to the Himachal Pradesh Assembly has become a sort of a cake walk for the Bhartiya Janata Party this time. This political advantage is primarily due to two main reasons, one Congress stalwart and Nehru Gandhi Scion Rahul Gandhi’s roughly, total absence in the campaigning of the hilly state with absolute dearth of charismatic leaders and secondly declaration of the fatigued old leader with charges of corruption, the sitting chief minister as a next prospective CM candidate against whom anti incumbency is already a dominating factor.

While on the one hand the charismatic prime minister Narendra Modi, BJP chief Amit Shah, UP CM Yogi Adityanath, Union state minister Ajay Tamta and Union Health minister JP Nadda are leaving no stone unturned by visiting several popular temples of Himachal Pradesh and delivering largely attened public meetings highlighting the corrupt practices of the current political dispensation of the state including its octogenerian CM already involved in the alleged illegal gratification of the case of 5 to 6 crore rupees received by him while he was the union steel minister and are succesfully saffronising the himalayan state on the other hand the dejected Congress leaders in the absence of Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Rahul’s negligible presence in the state’s campaigning are finding it extremely difficult to counter the BJP’S political onslaught and prime minister Modi and Yogi Adityanaths’ on going hectic campaigning. Just yesterday the prime minister hit the BJP’s election campaign by addressing a largely attended public meeting at Kangra district’s Fatehpur Assembly segment at Rehan and castigated Congress saying that its a party that symbolises corruption, communalism and castiesm.

He symbolised Congress representing five demons viz. Mining mafia, forest mafia, drug mafia and transfer mafia which actively thrived under Virbhadra’s tenure. Just few days ago the saffron clad UP chief minister Yogi Aditya Nath addresed several meeting in Himachal and drew large crowds even more than prime minister Modi’s meetings. Moreover the running cases of corruption against Veer Bhadra Singh has made Congress’s chances dim.

The existence of the BJP government in the neighbouring state with 57 lawmakers is also adding a positive impact on the chances of BJP’s revival with anti incumbency factor playing a crucial role. Viewing the ground realities in the context of Congress there is no alternate charismatic leader except Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Scindia in the party as compared to PM Modi, Amit Shah and hordes of of leaders and ministers in BJP.

While Sonia is in abnormal health its only Rahul who is solely fighting the impact of entire BJP’s political juggernaut in Gujarat having literally no time for a politically lesser significant state. Therefore, if we go by the assesment of the political analysts the morale of the Congress workers in view of Congress vice president’s disinterest in Himachal Pradesh as of now and the spate of BJP’s resounding victory in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand n formation of government’s in Goa and Manipur with freebies of the centre to state, is too low and chances of BJP forming seem to be too bright.

SUNIL NEGI