Campaign committee chief for the Congress in Himachal Pradesh, Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, speaks to The Hindu’s Nistula Hebbar on the upcoming Assembly polls in the hill State.
How do you see the Aam Aadmi Party’s [AAP] plans of entering the electoral fray in Himachal Pradesh?
In a democracy, whichever party enters the fray, they are free to do so. This is not the first time it’s happening in Himachal Pradesh that a third party, other than the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party [BJP], has tried to enter the contest, especially in the Assembly polls. Last time, there was a Morcha [Loktantrik Morcha Himachal Pradesh], which took 4-5% of votes. Before that, Pandit Sukh Ram’s party was there, which took around 6% of the vote, etc. Many times, people who don’t get tickets from the main two parties, join such outfits. You will see that in the next couple of months, hardly anyone will join the AAP. Close to the polls, on being denied tickets, many hopefuls will join such outfits. The people of Himachal also know this.
