BJP all set to retain Hamirpur Lok sabha seat in Himachal

HAMIRPUR:  With just four days are left for the election, BJp is all set to win the Bye election to Hamirpur Lok sabha seat. This seat had fallan vacant due to resignation of Prem Kumar Dhumal from the Lok sabha. His son, Anurag Thakur is the BJP nominee this time and is facing OP Rattan of Congress.
 
In the end of the campaign,the door to door campaign scenario has emerged in all the seventeen assembly segments of Hamirpur parliamentary seat that goes to polls on May 22nd. A record number of 11,73,362 voters will exercise their right of franchise in the election comprising in the districts of Hamirpur, Una, Bilaspur and Dehra sub division of Kangra .They include 23,615 service electors and 11, 49,747 general electors.
 
Four candidates are now left in the fray to contest the bye election to Hamirpur Lok sabha seat. Those left in the fray are: Anurag Singh Thakur, BJP, OP Rattan, Congress, Rattan Lal Kaundel, Bahujan Shakti party and Amin Chand, an independent.
 
However, the main contest is between the BJP and Congress.
 
This seat had fallen vacant following resignation by Prem Kumar Dhumal on his election to state assembly from Bamsan seat. Dhumal is the chief minister of state at present. Dhumal had won this seat in the June 7, 2007 bye election with a margin of 80,059 votes.
 
The election was necessitated following unseating of Suresh Chandel of the BJP for his alleged involvement in the cash for query scam issue.
 
An interesting political battle is on between the ruling BJP and the Congress for the Hamirpur parliamentary seat where the Rajput candidates have done exceedingly well winning nine out of twelve elections from 1967 onwards. The Congress has won this seat five times, the BJP six times, while a Janta Party candidate had been elected from this constituency only once in 1977 with help of erstwhile Jan sangh.

The Hamirpur parliamentary constituency has remained a BJP stronghold with the party winning the seat six times since 1989, as against the Congress, which won the seat only once in 1996.  Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal won this seat for the first time in 1989, defeating Congress senior leader Narain Chand Prashar and for the second time in 1991. He retained the seat for the third time in 2007, inflicting third successive defeat on the Congress’s Ram Lal Thakur who lost the 1999, 2004 and 2007 Lok Sabha elections.
 
Another Rajput leader and BJP leader was, Suresh Chandel who won the seat for three successive terms in 1998, 1999 and 2004. Chandel was however, made to quit the seat following his involvement in the cash for query scam issue.
Congress’ Prem Chand Verma, a Rajput leader, won the seat in 1967, while Narain Chand Prashar, an OBC leader, was successful from this Constituency for three terms.
 
The party’s candidate Major General, Bikram Singh who was successful in the 1996 parliamentary elections lost next time to Suresh Chandel of BJP.
 
The victory of Rajput candidates in this parliamentary constituency of the state could also be due to the fact that both the BJP and the Congress fielded candidates from this community in most of the elections.
 
However, this time, the situation has taken a new turn with the Congress fielding a Brahmin, OP Rattan of Una district as its candidate against the Anurag Singh Dhumal, a Rajput candidate of BJP.
 
While the Congress hopes to get majority votes of Brahmins on the Brahmin card, the BJP is hopeful that this card will not play as the party is combining of Brahmins and Rajputs and that is why it got power in the state with help of these two big communities with help of other small communities.
Meanwhile, the suspicion of low turn out in the election due to scorching heat and repeated election for the seat has been worrying the leaders of both the major parties. And that is the reason that they are now mainly concentrating on the door to door campaign instead of holding big rallies. Leaders of both parties have been telling their workers to fan out to the villages and to tell the people that the next election was vital for them and each vote would matter this time. They have been directed to ensure that maximum people reach the polling stations on May 22nd so that the polling percentage may not fall.
 
Returning officer for the seat, Ms. Nandini Gupta, who is also the Hamirpur Deputy Commissioner, is keen for conducting the election in a peaceful and fair manner. She told reporters that all steps had already taken in this respect and no one would be allowed to take law into his/her own hands.
 
She said that the strict vigil has been going round the clock in the district and barriers were being put to curb the activities of law breakers and the polling would start at 8.00 A.M and end at 5.00 P.M. on May 22nd.
 
With electioneering in full swing, the former chief minister, Vir Bhadra Singh who visited various parts of the constituency told that the position of Congress candidate was strong as people were fed up with the small rule of BJP due to its anti people stance. Price of various commodities have sky rocketed and government was sleeping over the situation. This issue is going into the hearts of the people, the former chief minister added.
 
However, chief minister, Prem Kumar Dhumal expressed optimism that the party would sweep the poll as the people were with the BJP for its positive achievements. He claimed that more than seventy percent of election promises had already been fulfilled and there was nothing against the state government and the party with the Congress.
 
He said that Congress was facing back to wall situation and that was why, its leaders were making irresponsible statements against the BJP and its leaders. He said that Congress was a divided house and its leaders were pulling in different directions.
 
A visit to the constituency shows that the BJP is marching ahead in the elections. Its leaders and workers are busy managing victory of Anurag Thakur as this election is vital for the popularity of four months old Dhumal government in the state. Since Anurag is the son of the chief minister, all are working unitedly for his success so that they may be able to get anything from the chief minister in coming days.
 
On other hand, the Congress is still facing the identity crisis due to its internal infighting. Had former chief minister, Vir Bhadra Singh not plunged into the electoral fray, it would have been one sided affair ion the election and the victory margin would have been in lakhs.  

Aruna Sharma