SHIMLA: The Aam Aadmi Party’s victory in Punjab has changed political equations in Himachal Pradesh and made it a serious challenger to the ruling BJP, while an unresolved leadership issue forces the opposition Congress to lie low.
BJP national president J P Nadda, chief minister Jai Ram Thakur, and Union minister Anurag Thakur have gone active to woo the voters before the coming assembly elections, while AAP’s central team is camping in the state to prepare ground for Arvind Kejriwal’s April 23 public rally in Kangra after the April 6 roadshow in Mandi. No one from the Gandhi family has turned up to charge up the Congress cadre.
Till the 2017 assembly elections, the BJP and the Congress were the only contenders for Himachal Pradesh, and now AAP has pitched itself as the third option to garner the negative vote against both parties. AAP claims to have added 3 lakh members from the state and hopes to build momentum with Kejriwal’s rally. The BJP has stopped talking about the Congress and started countering AAP. BJP president Nadda already has announced Jai Ram Thakur as chief ministerial candidate, while the Congress is in search of a face. This delay might hurt the party. AAP entered the state’s electoral politics with the Mandi roadshow of Kejriwal and Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann. The public response alerted the BJP and the Congress and compelled Nadda to launch the unofficial campaign with a counter-roadshow in Shimla on April 9.
