'RRR' in Himachal Pradesh: ‘Riwaz, Raj and Rebels’ Cost BJP Chief JP Nadda His Home State

Amid the high over the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) landslide victory in the Gujarat assembly polls, there has been a low — the party’s defeat in the hill state of Himachal Pradesh, which is also the home state of party chief J P Nadda and Union minister Anurag Thakur, where the party gave the slogan ‘raj nahi, riwaz badlenge’ (will change the tradition of not repeating an incumbent government).

While the party got a clear majority in Gujarat, it was expecting to form the government with the help of independents, a process it began soon after the voting was over, and had dispatched national general secretary Vinod Tawde to the hill state last night.

However, the hopes were dashed as the Congress secured a clear majority.

There are rumours that the differences between top leaders from the state are to blame, said sources.

NO CHANGE OF GUARD

Sources pointed out that a few months ago, when the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand was replaced, there was also a plan to change the Himachal CM. However, sources stated the party’s top brass did not make that change in the state.

To beat anti-incumbency in the earlier polls, the BJP had changed chief ministers and also cabinet just a year before the assembly polls and had recorded victory. Be it Uttarakhand, where it was successful in changing the tradition, or Gujarat, where it changed the CM and cabinet.

And then, there were states where the BJP decided not to change the sitting candidates or the CM and lost. For instance, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh and Delhi.

In Delhi, in the previous civic body polls, every sitting councilor was changed to beat anti-incumbency, but this time the strategy was not adopted and this was seen by many as the reason behind the loss to the AAP.

GLOOM AMID RANKS

The gloom of losing the hill state was seen amid the party leadership as well.

“We have botched up ticket distribution. The rebels have punctured our record of changing the tradition where the incumbent party is never voted to power. Had we not experimented with ticket distribution, we would have certainly won the state,” said a senior party leader.

There are approximately 13 seats where senior leaders think the party could have evaded defeat if tickets were given to the right candidate.

A loss in Himachal Pradesh Assembly polls will also be a cause for trouble for the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

The saffron party was hoping to improve its tally from three in 2019 to all four of the LS constituencies in 2024 as the Narendra Modi government would be seeking its third term in office.

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