Recap of Himachal Pradesh Elections 2022
Political Roller Coaster: Inside Himachal Pradesh’s 2022 Assembly Elections and the Decades-Long Battle for Power!
The Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly were held on 12 November 2022. The results of the polling were declared on 8 December 2022 along with the Gujarat Assembly polls. Since 1985, no ruling party has been able to stay in power in the state of HP for more than one term. The electors have been alternatively choosing between India’s two leading parties — BJP and INC. The closest a party came to retaining power was in 1998 when BJP and INC were both tied at 31 seats each but a coalition with Himachal Vikas Congress ensured BJP’s narrow victory.
Both parties entered the elections with their respective manifestos.
BJP Manifesto in Himachal Pradesh:
1. Uniform Civil Code introduction in the state
2. Eight lakh job opportunities in the state, including government jobs.
3. Noting that the development of a hill state is synonymous with road and infrastructure, Nadda said that all Himachali villages will be connected through pucca roads and all-weather roads.
4. Under the CM Anna Datta Scheme, 3000 will be added and over 9 lakh farmers will benefit, he said.
5. BJP will launch a programme called Shakti to develop infrastructure and transportation. Also, religious temples and places will be connected by roads.
6. In a boost to the local market and small-scale industries, the BJP government would levy a 12% tax on apple packaging and additional GST will be paid by the state government.
7. Five new medical colleges will be established and mobile clinic vans are to be doubled
8. The BJP-led government would provide for a startup unit with a corpus of Rs 900 crore for the youth of the state.
9. compensation to martyrs’ next of kin will be increased,
10. The BJP will carry out a survey on the Waqf board, and any illegal usage of properties will be checked.
11. Discrepancies in remuneration for BJP party workers will be regulated and hiked too.
Congress manifesto in Himachal:
- The main highlights of the manifesto include the restoration of the old pension scheme and the filing of one lakh jobs in the first Cabinet meeting after the formation of its government.
- Sensing the importance of over three lakh government employees, Congress has promised that all arrears due to the employees would be given and contract employees would be regularised within two years.
- While focusing on the youth, Congress has announced the setting up of a Youth Commission to look into all education and employment generation issues.
- The party announced the setting up of an Anti-Drug Abuse Enforcement Authority headed by a sitting high court judge to combat the problem of drug menace.
- The other highlights include the 10 guarantees announced by Congress earlier. This includes 300 units of free power, Rs 1,500 per month to all women between 18 to 60 years and Rs 10 crore each for every assembly segment to facilitate the setting up of startup units.
- The Congress, which has been alleging irregularities in recruitment, announced the setting up of a Recruitment Board to ensure that all posts are filled up within six months of the advertisement
The exit polls were released on 5th December 2022 after 7 PM. Most exit polls were in favour of the BJP. The Aaj Tak-Axit My India polls predicted BJP to win 24–34 seats and INC to win 30–40 seats, ABP News-CVoter polls predicted BJP to win 33–41 seats and INC to win 24–32 seats, IndiaTV-Matrize polls predicted BJP to win 35–40 seats and INC to win 26–31 seats, Republic TV-P MARQ polls predicted BJP to win 34–39 seats and INC to win 28–33 seats, Zee News- BARC polls predicted BJP to win 35–40 seats and INC to win 20–25 seats.
The elections in Himachal Pradesh went neck to neck but the final outcome was in favour of INC winning the elections with 40 seats and BJP emerging as the party with the second highest with 25 seats.
Pointers for the graph:
December 5, 2022: The ECI guideline of elections were lifted post polls in Gujarat for the 2nd Phase
December 5–6,2022: Publishing of various exit polls showing BJP to have an upper hand in the elections
December 8, 2022: The counting begins at 8 AM and BJP had a lead, at around 10 AM INC takes a lead and ultimately wins the election with 40 seats
