Ahead of Himachal Pradesh election results, Chief Minister Jairam Thakur told Outlook that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) expects the results to be in its favour but is keeping all options open as far as support from rebels is concerned.
The Himachal Pradesh’s 37-year-old unique history of alternating parties in power in every assembly election is set to be tested with the results on Thursday. The state is curious to see whether Chief Minister Jairam Thakur will be able to overturn the history or whether it will be business as usual — the change of power.
The exit polls predict a neck-to-neck fight between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress with a slight edge to CM Thakur.
In an exclusive conversation with Outlook’s Ashwani Sharma at his official residence ‘Oak Over’ on Tuesday, Thakur expressed confidence that the election results will be in BJP’s favour but added that the party is keeping all options open. Edited excerpts:
How do you view Himachal Pradesh exit polls?
Most exit polls except for one or two are in our favour. We are expecting the outcome of the polls on the same lines.
What is the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) ground assessment of Himachal Pradesh elections?
We are heading to a victory. There is a very good possibility of Bharatiya Janata Party getting a comfortable majority, though it is difficult to give the exact number of seats the party is likely to win. People should wait for December 8, only few hours are left for the crucial day.
What are your reasons for such confidence in BJP’s victory?
There are 41 constituencies where women voters outnumber men. The voting turn-out of women was higher than men by 4.5 per cent. I believe that the kind of impact Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made on women voters, particularly in the rural areas, is amazing to see. We believe it will be reflected favourably for the BJP when results are out.
As many as 21 BJP rebels were in the fray. Don’t you feel that their being in the fray could disturb BJP calculations?
I agree that the rebels will have an impact on the overall election outcome. There are few seats where some of them have damaged us as well as the Congress. We will analyse this aspect once the results are in front of us.
Congress looks quite confident of changing the ‘raj’ (power) in Himachal Pradesh. How do you look at it?
For the past four decades, the Congress and BJP have alternated the governments. No incumbent government has returned to power. That’s a perception not so easy to end. It’s a historical reality in Himachal Pradesh. This is first time that the BJP has worked out its poll strategy to focus on changing this trend — riwaaz. Let’s hope we succeed.
The Old Pension Scheme (OPS) has been most potent weapon in the armoury of Congress. Has it worked in its favour?
I admit OPS has been a big factor in the elections. It was a ready-made weapon in the Congress hands. The whole Congress campaign revolved around this. Otherwise, the Opposition had no issue for its campaign against the BJP. This was definitely an unusual situation for the BJP.
While the BJP is hoping to win, the mood in the Congress is already upbeat. How do you see it?
The Congress seems to be in over-confidence and even in a lot of hurry as well. There is already an intense battle for the chief ministerial post before the results. Let me tell you that most of the CM-post aspirants are likely to lose their own seats. I wonder how this party really functions or what kind of government it will offer in the state if the party wins the polls.
Are you in touch with rebels who are likely to win?
We are keeping all options open. Once the results are before us, the party leadership will take a call of their support. Some of them have also reached out to us.
The Congress fears about horse trading if the party falls short of majority.
This is absurd.