Influx of 6 congress rebels, 3 independents--- a boon or bane for saffron party?
Turmoil and internal strife in the ruling congress, which plunged the Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu government in crisis, seems to have also cast its shadows on the larger political landscape of the mountain state, so far, not affected by “Aaya Ram, Gaya Ram” politics.
In the cool climate of Himachal Pradesh, a fresh storm has started brewing in the Bharatiya Janata Party diluting its ideological stance – a party with difference actively engaged with its grassroots base.
There are visible, rather open signs of discontent in the cadres over the party's decision to admit six Congress MLAs—who had rebelled against their party and cross-voted for the BJP in the Rajya Sabha poll. The party high command at New Delhi rewarded all of them by not only granting BJP memberships but also tickets to contest upcoming byelections.
The resentment among BJP cadres highlights concerns about the potential erosion of the party's organizational ethos and a perceived betrayal of party values for political expediency.
Even three independent MLAs, who had also voted for the BJP in Rajya Sabha, have been admitted in the party. They had resigned from their memberships in the assembly to contest bypoll—yet to be announced for them.Their resignations are still on hold with the Speaker Kuldeep Pathania.
The BJP leadership in Delhi see the admission of Congress rebels (also three independents) as an opportunity for growth and expansion, especially when the congress government in the state has been reduced to a minority. If the BJP strength in the House, currently 25, increases after the bypoll, the party can easily destabilise the Congress government—a real time political gain, a perceived "operation lotus".
Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu admits that the BJP wants to get power in Himachal Pradesh through undemocratic means.Since, it could form the government through electoral process, they are trying to oust a duly elected government.
“They (BJP) want to get power through notes (cash) as they had failed to achieve via votes” he alleges accusing the opposition of horse trading. Till now, the BJP and congress were alternating power after every five years but this time the BJP has chosen to grab it within 15 months of the Congress forming its government in December 2022. The opposition BJP has also taken advantage of Sukhu's inability to take his flock together and simmering discontent against his style of governance.
Byelections on six assembly seats having fallen vacant due to their disqualification is scheduled to be held on June 1 simultaneously with Lok Sabha polls on June 1 in the seventh phase of the general elections in the country. All six of them were elected to the House on the congress tickets and defeated the BJP candidates but now they will be rubbing their shoulders with all those leaders.
“It is a strange development. The party’s national leadership did not think it proper to take the local cadres into confidence or study what impact the same will have on the psyche of the party workers, also those who had fought them in the 2022 assembly polls to see that the BJP forms its government” said senior former BJP MLA.
The influx of the Congress rebels into the party has strong murmurs of dissent. The High Command may have chosen to enlarge its base and increase its strength in the 68- member state assembly yet the move is definitely going to push its core cadre to the corners, also creating a strong rebellion.
It appears the BJP central leadership has not learnt from the wrong distribution of the tickets in the last assembly elections. More than 22 rebels contested against the official BJP candidates making the party to lose at least 10 to 11 winnable seats, crucial in the formation of the government.
Since, the BJP national president J P Nadda hails from Himachal Pradesh, he too seems to have overlooked the party dynamics then and even now, says one of BJP rebels.
Those who have been admitted in the party and given BJP tickets include Sudhir Sharma (Dharamshala).He is a former Congress minister and staunch loyalist of former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh. Rajendra Rana, a two-time MLA who shot into limelight after defeating former Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal from Sujanpur—home district of Information and broadcasting minister Anurag Thakur.
Rana, once a close confidant of Dhumal had indeed jeopardised his estranged mentor’s chances to become Chief Minister third time in 2017—an opportunity grabbed by five-time BJP MLA Jairam Thakur. The congress had gone into celebrations over Dhumal’s defeat. There were also cheers in some sections of the BJP too.
But, life has taken a full circle for Rana. First thing he did on returning to the BJP was to meet ex-CM Prem Kumar Dhumal and touched his feet to seek blessings for a new inning in the party, which he had deserted in 2017 in fulfilment of his political ambition.
Other rebels entering the BJP are Inder Dutt Lakhanpal (Barsar), Ravi Thakur (Lahaul-Spiti) , Chaitanya Sharma (Gagret) and Devinder Kumar Bhutto (Kutlehar).
With the arrival of new members, the balance of power within the BJP is bound to shift unevenly. The established leaders are funding let down and wary of losing influence to the incoming Congress rebels. Tensions have simmered as egos also clashed –a sign not good for the BJP ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
Two time former BJP minister Dr Ram Lal Markanda has quit the party and declared his plans to contest the poll from Lahaul-Spiti. He had lost to Ravi Thakur (Congress) in the 2022 elections by a margin of 1,616 votes. Earlier in 2017, he had defeated Ravi by 478 votes.The total votes polled in Lahaul-Spiti were 17,121 against 18,801 in 2022.
In Dharamshala, Rakesh Chaudhary, who was the official candidate in 2022 against Sudhir Sharma has resigned. Rakesh Kalia, a three-time Congress MLA, who had joined the BJP in 2022, has also tendered his resignation.
The biggest crisis for the BJP is going to be at Kutlehar where a party senior and former minister Virender Kanwar has conveyed his strong resentment over Bhutto’s entry to the party. Kanwar had lost to Bhutto in 2022 by 7,579. He has announced to take a decision on consulting his workers in the constituency even as state BJP president Dr Rajeev Bindal has met him to dissuade him from an apparent revolt that could mar the party’s chances to wrest the assembly seat—a fortress of the party for a long time.
In the end, the decision to admit Congress rebels into the BJP proved to be a transformative moment, not only for the party but for the entire political landscape of Himachal Pradesh. The mountains are set to witness a new phase of turmoil scripting a new chapter in the state's history, marked by few bad precedents.
Former Chief Minister Jairam Thakur has declared “when Lok Sabha results will be out on June 4, two BJP governments will be formed in the country—one under Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the national level and other in Shimla. The Congress days are already numbered in the state”.
By Ashutosh Sharma from Shimla
(The content of this article reflects the views of writers and contributors, not necessarily those of the publisher and editor. All disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of competent courts and forums in Delhi/New Delhi only)
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