Why did Rahul Gandhi stay away from Himachal poll campaign?

New Delhi: Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi skipped canvassing for the party in Himachal Pradesh despite being its top star campaigner.

This is also the first time in many years that he stayed away from the poll campaign in any state.

Today is the last day of campaigning in Himachal Pradesh where polling will be held on November 12. The counting of votes will be taken up on December 8.

It is argued that since Rahul Gandhi is leading the ongoing nationwide Bharat Jodo Yatra, he cannot leave it to campaign in poll-bound states.

But he could have skipped it for at least a day to visit the hill state. He had earlier done so when veteran leader Mallikarjun Kharge took charge as the Congress president on October 26. Besides, there are designated rest days during the yatra as well.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has claimed that Rahul Gandhi has skipped the election campaign in Himachal Pradesh due to the fear of an imminent defeat in the state and therefore, avoiding a loss of face.

In his absence, the reins of the Congress’ election campaign in Himachal Pradesh have been taken by his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who is also the party general secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh. She has toured the state extensively and addressed a number of rallies.

After the recent assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh is the second state where she has taken complete control and command of the party’s electioneering. In fact, the party’s in-charge of the hill state, Rajeev Shukla, is her nominee and all the secretaries attached to him are those who worked with Priyanka Gandhi in Uttar Pradesh.

Similarly, a key All India Congress Committee (AICC) observer is Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel, who had also worked with her in the assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh earlier this year.

Hence, she will be directly responsible for the party’s victory or loss in the hill state.

Till now, successes or failures of the Congress in assembly elections in states were attributed to Rahul Gandhi.

From 2014 onwards, the grand old party has witnessed a continuous electoral slide and lost state after state. At present, it is in power only in two states – Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.

In that context, every election is important for the Congress and it cannot afford to lose more states especially ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

A win in Himachal Pradesh will definitely give the much-needed boost to the Congress at a time when its chips are down.

As of now, the party is not even in contention in Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) emerging as the main challenger of the ruling BJP.

On the other hand, the Prime Minister is personally monitoring the BJP’s election management in both Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh and has addressed several rallies in the two states. Polling will be held in two phases in Gujarat on December 1 and 5 while the votes polled will be counted on December 8.

The extent of the Prime Minister’s involvement could be gauged by the fact that he personally called a BJP rebel in Himachal Pradesh to withdraw from the contest in favour of the official candidate. A video of the conversation between the Prime Minister and former Member of Parliament (MP) Kripal Parmar went viral. However, Parmar has not yet withdrawn and firmly remains in the contest.

Addressing rallies in Mandi and Solan districts on November 5, Modi urged the people to remember him and the BJP symbol, Lotus, and not the candidate while casting their vote.

It remains to be seen if Modi’s appeal will help the BJP beat the strong anti-incumbency against its government and chief minister Jairam Thakur to retain power.

If it does, the BJP will create a history in Himachal Pradesh that is a cyclic state and has not returned any party to power in decades now.