Himachal Assembly Polls 2022: Regional Factor Takes A Backseat

The generational change in the leadership of BJP and Congress, the two main contenders for power in Himachal Pradesh, has pushed the regional factor into the background in the ensuing assembly poll.

It is for the first time that the state is going to polls when Jairam Thakur, a leader from Mandi district, is occupying the seat of chief minister.  The state has seen nine assembly elections from 1977  to 2017 on every time the incumbent  chief minister, irrespective of party in power, came from either from Shimla or Kangra, the two main political regions which played a major role in formation of government. While both the Congress chief ministers, Thakur Ram Lal and Virbhadra Singh, were from Shimla region or the old Himachal, the two BJP chief ministers, Shanta Kumar and Prem Kumar Dhumal, came from the Kangra region or the merged areas.

In the 2017 polls, whenVirbhadra Singh was the chief minister, the BJP had declared Dhumal as its chief ministerial candidate. The BJP won the election but Dhumal lost from his Sujanpur constituency. The high command picked JairamThakur, a next generation leader from the Mandi, the second largest district after Kangra, for the coveted political post. The BJP has gone to polls with Jairam in the saddle, while Congress has not declared its chief ministerial candidate.