Himachal Pradesh is set to elect its next government today, 12th November 2022, as the voting for the 68 assembly seats is underway in the state. However, the counting of votes will only occur on the 8th of December alongside Gujarat assembly votes where voting is set to conclude on December 5.
Himachal Pradesh is famous for oscillating between Congress and BJP, as no party has been able to secure consecutive victories since Virbhadra Singh led Congress in 1985. With BJP led by CM Jai Ram Thakur as the incumbent this time, there have been speculations that Congress may stage a comeback in Himachal Pradesh despite struggling across the country.
While pollsters expect a nailbiter between BJP and Congress this time, there was another party trying to make the contest triangular but seems to have given up months ahead of the elections, the Aam Aadmi Party.
Strange Aam Aadmi Party campaign in Himachal Pradesh
A few months ago, it looked like we may witness a three-cornered fight for the Himachal Pradesh assembly for the first time as Aam Aadmi Party tried to gain a foothold in the state. Immediately after winning neighbouring Punjab comprehensively, AAP supremo and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann headed to Himachal to conduct a road show in CM Thakur’s home turf, Mandi.
With the overwhelming success in Punjab, AAP thought that they can easily move to the neighbouring state going to polls next, however, the different nature of Himachal Pradesh politics seems to have stumped them and they quickly cut short their campaign. Even though AAP is fielding candidates in almost all the constituencies, but even their ardent supporters aren’t expecting much on 8th December when the votes are counted.
While Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal is literally camping in Gujarat for the past few months for the assembly elections there, Himachal has been pretty much abandoned by the party. Even Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann has spent more time in Gujarat than he ever did in Himachal. In fact, Punjab government has been footing the bill for AAP’s ad expenses in Gujarat as well as per reports.
This could be because the party got no traction in Himachal Pradesh while it got some positive responses in Gujarat. Even though the party says they haven’t abandoned Himachal and their candidates are focusing on door-to-door campaigning, the absence of big faces and any large-scale campaign suggests they have just given up on the state.
The party seems to have invested all its resources in Gujarat where BJP has been ruling for the last 26 years. Even though nobody expects AAP to come close to defeating BJP, but with Congress abandoning ground, they are aiming to become the main opposition party. However, they haven’t made any such attempt in Himachal where they seem to have abandoned the ground to make sure anti-BJP votes aren’t split between them and Congress.