Assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh are on November 9. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has belatedly announced the name of Prem Kumar Dhumal as the chief ministerial candidate. It had not decided to do so in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. But its decision to announce the name of Sarvananda Sanowal in Assam and Manohar Parrikar in Goa had paid rich dividends. Dhumal is popular in the party in Himachal Pradesh and has served as chief minister twice. He is therefore an able contender for the high office against the Congress chief minister Virbhadra Singh who faces corruption charges. If electoral battle is on local issues, the Congress may be up against it. The outcome of assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand was largely due to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s charisma and active participation in the campaign. He is also going full steam ahead in the aggressive campaign in Gujarat. The announcement of Dhumal’s name in Himachal Pradesh may be on account of the BJP’s intention to lessen the burden of Modi who obviously has urgent business in Delhi. In Himachal Pradesh, the BJP has chosen between Dhumal who has party MLAs under his flag and Union Health Minister J.P Nadda who is an ace organisation man. The state unit has tilted the scales in favour of Dhumal.
The BJP evidently looks forward to its success in Himachal Pradesh the way it won in Assam and Goa where the announcement of a chief ministerial candidate was backed by alliance partners. The party should in future project local leaders and not bank on a Modi personality cult. That means giving them more power and authorities. It will do well to name a chief ministerial candidate in Gujarat as well now that Modi has done the groundwork.