DNA Edit: Fight to the finish

Himachal Pradesh came out in strong numbers — 70 per cent voter turnout — to steer the fate of the state for the next five years. Interestingly, for the last two decades, the people of Himachal Pradesh have always voted out an incumbent government and the pattern is apparent from the fact that for the last 24 years, the position of the chief minister of the state has passed back and forth between the two major contenders — the incumbent Congress Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and the BJP CM candidate Prem Kumar Dhumal. Singh commands the loyalty of a large section of the Himachal Pradesh populace, attested by the fact that he has been the CM of the state for six terms vis-a-vis Dhumal who can boast of two innings as the CM — one in 1998 and the other in 2007. The campaigning in the run-up to the polls has been cut-throat, and both the parties can be charged with taking potshots at each other that were way below the belt.

However, ground reports indicate that Singh was not extended the robust support he was expecting from the Congress’s high-command. Apparently, Singh, popularly known to the people of the state as Raja Saheb, was not provided a helicopter and was forced to tour the state by road. When a Congress spokesperson was questioned on this lapse, he said that this was an instance that best captured the “humility” of the octogenarian chief minister who has been traversing the state by car. Why did the Congress headquarters choose the critical pre-election campaigning phase as the time to highlight the CM’s humility is a question that has flummoxed the best political pundits in the business.

Many of their ilk have even suggested that the state Congress cadre is extremely dispirited and demoralised. An indefatigable BJP has been capitalising on the disenchantment and its campaign has been focusing on the corruption that has set in bureaucratic ranks. Apart from that, the party has also honed its offensive by casting spotlight on the abuse and exploitation by the land, alcohol, drug and mining mafia. Other emotive issues like the brutal rape and murder of a 16-year-old student in Kotkhai, at a stone’s throw from Shimla, was also played up.

On the other hand, the Congress has been finding ready support from a sizable section of the small traders and retailers community that was hit badly in the aftermath of demonetisation. What’s more, a 28 per cent GST on tourism activity has dented the earnings of the people of the state which majorly relies on the influx of visitors for its income. Officially, the contribution of tourism to the state GDP is a whopping 7.5 per cent. This figure is drawn from hotels and homestays that operate in the formal economy. In actuality, the number of individuals and establishments operating in the informal economy that, in one way or the other, rely on tourist influx is far higher than those in the formal economy. Will GST have a detrimental effect on BJP’s performance? Only the results of the poll which will be declared on December 20 can give an answer.