Give us a chance: Kejriwal, Mann at Himachal roadshow after Punjab win

But Dhami, like several other residents of the area, is not sure if the third option in Himachal’s politics has enough time to make inroads to win the state. Assembly polls are due in the state by the end of this year.

Kejriwal’s political pitch on Wednesday was similar to that in Punjab – give us one chance.

“Humein rajneeti nahi aati. Humein deshbhakti aati hai. Humein school aur hospital banana aate hain (We don’t know politics. We know patriotism. We know how to build schools and hospitals). Come to Delhi and see. Just give us five years, if you don’t like our government, change it. You gave 30 years to Congress and 17 to the BJP. Give us a chance now and you will forget all other parties,” he said.

Mann said that both BJP and Congress are scared of AAP. “Over the past few days, leaders from both parties have been making statements that a third party cannot enter Himachal. This goes to show that it can. It is when you are afraid that you start talking about these things,” he said.

Among those who waited for Kejriwal and Mann to begin the rally near the historic Victoria Bridge was 18-year-old Himanshi. A student at Vallabh Government College, she will vote for the first time in the assembly polls this time.

Asked why she had come to the rally, she said, “I like Kejriwal and AAP. They talk about issues like health and education that matter to us. We want to see what they say about jobs in the state.”

In visiting Mandi, around 100 km from Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur’s constituency Seraj, Kejriwal blew the poll bugle in the state where the AAP is yet to make an impact in local or state-level polls.

The party first contested in Himachal Pradesh in 2014 Lok Sabha polls, when it fielded two candidates – from Dharamshala and Hamirpur. Both lost. It then fielded candidates in the Dharamshala municipal corporation polls. Here, too, the party faced defeat; its vote share was around 2 per cent.

But its landslide victory in Punjab, where it won 92 out of 117 Assembly seats, has made an impact in the neighbouring state and the AAP is now set to contest the municipal polls in Shimla, scheduled to be held at the end of this month.

According to Durgesh Pathak, AAP’s Himachal in-charge, the victory in Punjab has led several people to join the party over the past few days.

“We now have 3 lakh members and around 100 active volunteers in all 68 constituencies. We had not expected this sort of a response… Strong organisational work has been done in Himachal over the past 2-3 years,” he said.

“One thing is clear, people here are looking for a change… The present relationship of people with the government, whether it is the BJP or Congress, is that of raja and praja. This has to change and people are ready for that.”

Himachal Pradesh has not voted the same party into power for two consecutive terms since 1985, with the BJP winning in 2017. With veteran party leader and former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh’s passing away in 2021, the Congress is now being seen at a disadvantage. News of infighting within the party also has core voters troubled.

According to Mandi residents, it is the Congress that stands to lose the most because of the AAP’s push in the state.

“The Congress vote is likely to be hit the most. The BJP cadre, while it may be disgruntled, is unlikely to vote for the AAP. Party allegiances are very strong in Himachal and it is not easy for a new party to break into the scene. Congress voters are a little lost because after Virbhadra Singh, they don’t really see a clear leader,” said Vinod Kumar, 53, who owns a small grocery shop in Rewalsar, around 25 km from Mandi.

Does AAP see itself taking the place of Congress in Himachal? No, according to Pathak.

“AAP is not limited to taking the space occupied by Congress. People are just tired of the two parties here. We appeal to a variety of voters, especially the youth… our political philosophy is change and a new way of doing politics. We respect the voter,” he said.

Over the past three decades, breakaways from the BJP and Congress have tried to find a place in Himachal politics as a third front.

In 1990, Janata Dal in the state was led by Vijai Singh Mankotia, who had left the Congress. The party won 11 seats and joined BJP, which formed the government. Within three years, the party faded away and Mankoita rejoined the Congress.

In 1997, former Chief Minister Sukh Ram formed the Himachal Vikas Congress after quitting Congress. The party won 5 seats in 1998 and BJP formed government with its help. Soon, however, this party, too, faded away. Sukh Ram, whose son Anil Sharma is the BJP MLA from Mandi, rejoined Congress.

His son, Aashray Sharma, was the Congress Lok Sabha candidate from Mandi in 2019. Over the past few months, Anil Sharma has spoken out against the BJP leadership in the state.

Over the next few months, AAP is going to highlight issues of infrastructure, health and education in the state.

“Connectivity issues are still rampant in the state. People have to travel several kilometres, sometimes on foot, to visit a doctor. There are a lot of areas where work is needed,” Pathak said.

The challenge for the party is to show that they can go beyond promises of bijli-paani.

“Resonance over issues like free power and water is less here. Himachal is largely a rural state and my water bill amounts to Rs 100 for 3 months. It is areas like education and health that people are looking to AAP for,” said Chaman Lal, an autorickshaw driver.

Pathak feels that reducing AAP to its promises in the power and water sectors is a narrow way of looking at their politics.

“These are only guarantees. Our politics is change. In Delhi, people like Saurabh Bhardwaj and Rakhi Birla defeated giants. Something similar happened in Punjab. AAP is a political revolution… A government is a service provider and should have that relationship with its people, something that is lacking in Himachal,” he said.