NEW DELHI, 29 December 2007 — After giving Congress a shock defeat in Gujarat, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) returned to power in the Himachal Pradesh. The BJP has been elected to power in the state, wresting control from the Congress party, which heads the national government, the Election Commission said yesterday.
In a landslide victory, the Hindu-nationalist party won 41 of the 68 seats in the state assembly, where it previously held only 19, according to the Election Commission’s website.
The center-left Congress shed 20 of the seats it won in 2003, winning only 23 this time around. The scenic and relatively prosperous Himalayan state is not especially significant in the national picture, it being home to a mere 6 million of India’s billion-plus population.
Power has alternated between the two rival parties in the state over the past two decades as voters often tire within a single term of whoever is in power.
Nonetheless, the victory will further boost the BJP’s morale, coming five days after it comfortably won a third term in power in Gujarat, a key state in the country’s west.
The party had been struggling for direction since losing control of the national government in 2004.
“Immediately after the victory in Gujarat I said the BJP is on a comeback trail,” Lal Krishna Advani, the BJP’s leader, told reporters at a press conference in New Delhi.
“Today’s results from Himachal Pradesh have shown that the trail has progressed further. It will reach its ultimate destination whenever the next parliamentary elections are held.”
The Congress, yet to recover from its Gujarat shock, is now dismayed at being pushed out of power in Himachal Pradesh.
The party, however, is not ready to view both the defeats from the same parameters, as it said there is no communal polarization in Himachal Pradesh.
“In democracy, changes do take place and we have to humbly accept the verdict of the people. It is a mistake to link the Gujarat results with Himachal,” senior party leader Anand Sharma said.
“We are determined to rectify the lapses and strengthen the party. We still have a powerful presence in Himachal,” he emphasized.
