By Baldev S. Chauhan, IANS
Shimla : Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Shanta Kumar will certainly not have fond memories of the Himachal Pradesh assembly elections after the party failed to project him as its chief ministerial candidate.
Until only a few weeks ago, Kumar, 73, was the frontrunner for the top post in case the BJP was voted to power. He has been chief minister twice. The last phase of polling is on Dec 19 and counting on Dec 28.
Around a fortnight ago, just before the election campaign was to go full swing, the BJP high command decided to instead project Prem Kumar Dhumal as the chief ministerial candidate. Kumar is not only his mentor and 10 years senior in age, but almost 20 years senior in active politics.
Kumar, an RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh) man, currently holds the BJP’s post of vice-president (national unit).
Party sources said Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi was instrumental in swinging the tide in favour of Dhumal. Modi was in-charge of the BJP’s state (Himachal Pradesh) unit affairs in the 1990s.
It was sweet revenge for Modi who Kumar had criticised bitterly on national television after the post-Godhra violence in 2002.
Kumar was perhaps the only BJP leader to come out in the open and take on Modi after the Gujarat riots. Although many were stunned within the party, Kumar won praise from many quarters for speaking his mind.
Kumar has been chief minister of the hill state in the late 1970s and early 1990s. His government fell during his second term in the aftermath of the Babri Masjid demolition on law and order grounds, although not a single incident of violence was reported from the quiet state in 1992.
His “no-work-no-pay” policy was appreciated across the country as he strongly dealt with government employees’ unions during his second term.
He rarely promoted favourites and even came down hard on the powerful and rich apple farmers by partly withdrawing their subsidies and suppressing their agitations.
Kumar, a two-time member of parliament and the only cabinet minister in New Delhi ever from Himachal Pradesh, was clearly ready to give his last shot at the top post in the state if the BJP is voted to power later this month.
Idealists were hoping this to happen so that Himachal Pradesh’s many governance ills would be done away with.
“With Shanta Kumar out of the race for the top post, it remains to be seen how his supporters will take it now, particularly in Kangra district, the state’s most populous district, which also happens to be the home district of Kumar,” said a political observer.
“Kangra district, with 16 seats among 68 in the state assembly, often swings the balance in favour of the winning party. This time, it remains to be seen how much damage has been caused with Kumar out of the race of the top post just days before the elections,” said another.
Now, Kumar can only hope to go to parliament if there is an early Lok Sabha poll next year, or be nominated to the Rajya Sabha in March next year, provided the party returns to power.
The first phase of polling took place for three tribal seats of Bharmaur, Lahaul & Spiti and Kinnaur Nov 14 due to fear of early snowfall in the high mountains reaches of the tribal belt.
According to the Chief Electoral Officer Manisha Nanda, there are 4,477,254 voters in the state for the 65 seats in the second and last phase of polling.
There are 324 candidates in the fray. The Arki assembly seat in Solan district has the largest number of candidates at nine.
While the BJP, Congress and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) have fielded candidates in all seats, the Lok Janshakti Party is contesting 38 seats, Communist Party of India-Marxist six seats, while independents are contesting 38 seats.
According to Nanda, there are 5,934 polling stations for 65 assembly segments.
Polling staff and material is being airlifted to some of the snowbound areas as they are already cut off from the rest of the country by road due to heavy snowfall.