Record turnout on the himachal elections

Record turnout on the himachal elections

But the Congress and BJP let down Himachal voters with excessively personal campaigns

Himachal Pradesh turned out in record numbers for the Assembly elections held on Thursday, with 74.6% of the electorate casting their votes. This provisional estimate may be revised a little upwards or downwards, but as of now it is marginally higher than the previous high of 74.5% in the 2003 polls. Preliminary figures showed uniform voting close to the same mark across districts, with Kullu district registering the highest turnout of nearly 78%. Such a high level of polling is a trend that has been seen in most States in India since 2010.

This is an affirmation of the work done by the Election Commission in updating electoral rolls, easing the process of voting with the use of electronic voting machines and photo identity cards, besides seeking to educate more voters about the polling process through enrolment initiatives. Himachal Pradesh, in any case, has always had robust voter participation, with much higher turnouts relative to other north Indian States. It is ranked second in the Human Development Index in the country, and a high HDI has correlated well with increased electoral participation in a State, as seen in Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well. As for psephological readings, traditionally higher levels of polling in a State had been seen to indicate an anti-incumbency mood — but that correlation has broken in recent years, with turnouts of more than 90%, for example, in Tripura returning the incumbent government. How it plays out in Himachal Pradesh this year will be known on counting day on December 18.

The contest in Himachal Pradesh is limited largely to the ruling Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party, even though the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has attempted to build on its rare north Indian success in the Shimla mayoral elections of 2012 by focussing on a few constituencies. The State has alternated between regimes led by the Congress and the BJP in every election since 1990. At various points of the campaign this year right up to voting day, the political discourse turned vitriolic and personal. The Congress sought to make the elections a referendum on the Central government’s policies, by taking up the implementation of the goods and services tax and the effects of demonetisation.

The BJP hit back by focussing on the corruption cases faced by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh. The star campaigners of both parties, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, gave the campaign a plebiscitary touch — but in previous elections, voters in Himachal Pradesh have been influenced by State-specific issues such as the local apple and tourism economy as well as local infrastructure and social welfare. Now, as the BJP and the Congress move the focus to Gujarat, they will do well to delineate their positions on social and economic issues, without the vitriol that marked the campaign in the hill State.