Pratibha Chauhan
Shimla, March 13
The Shimla MC elections will prove to be a litmus test for both BJP and Congress before the Assembly poll later this year with AAP seeking to emerge as a third force in the bipolar polity of Himachal.
AAP can provide a third option in the Shimla MC poll which could possibly tilt the electoral equations.
As such, the ruling BJP and the Congress will muster their organisational strength to win the Shimla MC poll, due anytime in May-June this year. At present, the Shimla MC is controlled by the BJP, which won it for the first time in the last poll. Sensing the importance of the Shimla MC, the Congress is desperate to wrest it.
Both parties are taking the Shimla MC poll seriously and have constituted committees and assigned tasks to leaders. Being in power, the BJP has a clear advantage, besides the added advantage of the saffron party's spectacular win in four states.
However, with Shimla district being a Congress bastion, the party could encash on the sentiment. The employees' anti-government stand could also tilt the scale in favour of the Congress, which faces an uphill task, considering the party's decimation across the country. With a sizeable number of government employees being voters in Shimla, the MC poll will be a fiercely fought battle.
The role of AAP will be keenly watched by everyone as the party intends to make its presence felt in the MC poll. There are 41 wards in the urban body. However, AAP, which has a negligible presence in the hill state, will have to virtually start from a scratch though now people from every field are queuing up to be on the forefront.
Himachal has always had a two-party system, barring the brief mark made by some third option. The first non-Congress government was formed in 1977 when the Janata Party regime, headed by Shanta Kumar, came to power. After 1985, the BJP and the Congress have ruled alternately. So it now remains to be seen if the BJP can break this trend.
The first serious attempt to forge a third front was in 1967 when bureaucrat-turned politician Takur Sen Negi floated the Lok Jan Party, which won two Assembly seats in the 1972 poll. Later in 1990, the Janata Dal won 11 seats in the Assembly poll with Vijai Singh Mankotia being at the forefront. Another serious attempt to float a regional party was in 1996 when former Telecommunication Minister Sukh Ram floated his political outfit Himachal Vikas Congress. The HVC managed to win five seats in a pre-poll alliance with the BJP .
Later, in 2012, a breakaway faction of the BJP led by Maheshwar Singh, former BJP state president and MP, floated the Himachal Lokhit Party which managed to win one seat in the 2012 Assembly poll but merged with the BJP in 2017.
Negligible presence in state
- The role of AAP will be keenly watched by everyone as the party intends to make its presence felt in the MC poll
- There are 41 wards in the urban body
- However, AAP, which has a negligible presence in the hill state, will have to virtually start from scratch though now people from every field are queuing up to be part of AAP.
