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| Edited By: Jayadev Calamur |Source: DNA webdesk |Updated: Dec 18, 2017, 05:39 PM IST
The results are out and the BJP has clinched Himachal Pradesh, primarily due to the anti-incumbency wave.
The state witnessed a record voter turnout at 74.61%. Around 49.05 lakh voters chose 338 candidates for 68 Assembly seats. Going by trends, the BJP is expected to win 44 out of the 68 seats – a clear majority.
Corruption was the main focus of the BJP campaign with the party training its guns at Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh. In 2015, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had filed a disproportionate assets case against Singh and carried out raids at 11 places in the state, including at his residence in Shimla, and in Delhi.The developments came on a day when Singh's daughter was getting married.
The sources said it is alleged that he got an unexplained income of Rs 6.1 crore during the period 2009-11 when he was serving as the Minister of Steel in the UPA Government, the sources said. They said it is alleged that Singh while serving as the Union Minister invested Rs 6.1 crore in life insurance policies in his and his family members’ name through LIC agent Chauhan.
Delhi: Party workers celebrate at party HQ, as trends indicate BJP's victory in both Gujarat & Himachal Pradesh #GujaratVerdict #HimachalPradeshElections2017 pic.twitter.com/BDJxPcB6hN — ANI (@ANI) December 18, 2017
Two years earlier, when UPA II was still at the Centre, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who was at the time the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, had written to then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh making various corruption allegations against the Himachal Chief Minister including that he received pay offs of over Rs two crore from a private steel firm during his tenure as Union Steel Minister.
During the Assembly election campaign, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday attacked the Congress for promising “zero tolerance” on corruption when its own chief minister was facing allegations of graft and said the state’s ruling party had become a “laughing club”. Addressing an election rally in Kangra, PM Modi said it was time to rid “Devbhoomi”, or the land of the gods as Himachal Pradesh is known, of monsters. Chief minister Virabhadra Singh, Modi said, was “out on bail” on graft charges.
The corruption allegations are just the beginning for the Congress government. The gang-rape and murder of a minor girl sent shock-waves across the country and the opposition BJP slammed the government for failing to maintain law and order in the state. The matter got out of hand after the CBI took over the case and even arrested a top cop after one of the accused, who was arrested, was killed, allegedly while in police custody.
In September 2016, the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, and the current CM candidate for BJP Prem Kumar Dhumal said that according to National Crime Record Bureau in 2012, Himachal Pradesh was ranked 20th in terms of crime rate and now in the last four years, the state has been ranked 15th in the country which shows crime rate has increased under the government’s regime.
While Himachal Pradesh has ranked well when it comes to its public health system (500 primary healthcare centres, 78 community health centres), 75 allopathic dispensaries and hospitals, and 141 beds for 1,00,000 patients in government hospitals), there have been incidences of epidemic s breaking out.
In 2016, the state was plagued with scrub typhus in which 700 people were affected, and 20 people died. Scrub typhus, which is caused by a group of microorganisms called rickettsiae, is usually transmitted by mites that are found in the shrubs in hilly areas. It can also be transmitted by lice, ticks and fleas. It may progress on to respiratory distress, pneumonitis (inflammation of lung tissue), encephalitis (inflammation of the brain), kidney failure and then multi-organ failure. If untreated, it can kill.
While Himachal Pradesh has also adhered to the Centre’s ‘Eradicate tuberculosis’ mission, and given itself a 2023 deadline, one of the primary concerns that has been raised is the amount of money shelled out by the state’s citizens for public healthcare. While the government spends Rs 2,000 per person per year in the state, households are expected to pay Rs 2,274, as per data provided by the National Health Accounts 2014-15.
There are several other factors that cost the Congress, but these factors certainly played a role in the party’s defeat. In 2014, BJP played the corruption and development card and people played heed to oust UPA II. The same game was played in Himachal and the results speak for themselves.
