Bypoll verdict

THE results of the October 30 byelections have stung the BJP government in Himachal Pradesh, a year before the hill state goes to the polls. The ruling party drew a blank as the Congress regained the Mandi parliamentary seat and also won Arki, Fatehpur and Jubbal-Kotkhai Assembly seats. This was the first election in the state after six-term Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, by far Himachal’s tallest Congress leader, passed away in July. His rich legacy lives on, with the sympathy vote largely helping the Congress turn the tables on the BJP. Virbhadra’s widow Pratibha Singh outclassed Kargil war hero and BJP nominee Brig Khushal Thakur (retd) to wrest the Mandi seat. Not surprisingly, Arki, from where Virbhadra had won in 2017, also went the Congress’ way. While the outcome has given a fillip to the Himachal Congress, which has been struggling to regroup after Virbhadra’s demise, it’s an embarrassment not only for CM Jai Ram Thakur but also for BJP’s national president JP Nadda, who is a Rajya Sabha MP from the state. Both Thakur and Nadda need to assess how big a part anti-incumbency played in the bypoll and how the BJP can get its act together ahead of the 2022 elections.

In Haryana, Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) candidate Abhay Singh Chautala retained the Ellenabad Assembly seat. The victory offers a ray of hope to the INLD, which has been reduced to a fringe player in the state. Resentment against the BJP-led state government and the prolonged unrest over the three Central farm laws seem to have influenced the result.

The verdict in Himachal and Haryana is at variance with the general trend in most other states, where the ruling party/alliance fared well in the byelections. The BJP and its allies gained ground in Assam and other northeastern states, while the Trinamool Congress swept the board in West Bengal. The Congress came up trumps in Rajasthan, even as the BJP had the upper hand in Madhya Pradesh. On the whole, it’s a mixed bag of results that hasn’t given the BJP much to gloat over.