BJP chief Nadda set to embark on Himachal mission in run-up to 2024 Lok Sabha polls

Shimla: BJP national president J P Nadda is all set to embark upon a three-day tour of Himachal Pradesh next week, the first after the party lost power in his home state, apparently to bolster the confidence of the party cadres in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

His itinerary, for the tour which begins on June 12 at Nurpur in state’s biggest district—Kangra, doesn’t only include public meetings and interaction with the workers but also bringing former Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal back to the limelight for a role in the Parliamentary elections.

“Nadda ji will hold a meeting with Dhumal Sahib and also address BJP’s core team, including the state executive on June 13 at Hamirpur, the parliamentary constituency of union minister for Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur” confirmed state BJP president Dr Rajeev Bindal.

Dr Bindal was appointed state BJP president only a month back replacing Shimla MP Suresh Kashyap in the first major organisational change done in the aftermath of the BJP’s loss in the 2023 assembly elections.

Under Kashyap’s tenure, the BJP had lost four byelections in 2021 including Mandi Parliamentary seat, later state assembly and recently the Shimla Municipal Corporation elections.

Pawan Rana, BJP’s organisational general secretary, who has been under attack over the factional war within the party for quite some time, has also been changed. Siddharthan, who was earlier handling the party affairs in Delhi, has swapped places with Rana.

“It’s a good decision to shift Pawan Rana from Himachal Pradesh. Being a native of Himachal Pradesh, Rana had his own political ambitions. Many of his decisions were not fair, and had damaged the party more than helping us”, says a senior BJP leader and former minister.

Pawan Rana was blamed for the rebellion in the party over distribution of tickets that had resulted in 21 leaders defying the high command’s decision. This is a fact openly shared by the BJP cadres, who also see the side-lining of Dhumal by the state leadership as a contributing factor to the party’s defeat.

Six months down the line, after the BJP poll debacle, efforts are afoot to build bridges in Hamirpur –home district of Dhumal, who suffered a complete wash-out in the 2022 assembly polls, and also emergence of Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu,59, as Congress’s Chief Minister face.

“Had party given the ticket to Dhumal ji from Sujanpur—where he had lost the poll in 2017, the scenario could have been entirely different for the BJP. Dhumal, after his defeat, spent all five years in rebuilding his connection with masses despite being systematically side-lined under Jai Ram Thakur’s Chief Ministerial term” recalls Praveen Sharma, who contested as a rebel in Mandi.

It’s understood Nadda is likely to convey the party’s message to Dhumal about his contribution in Himachal Pradesh for making the BJP as the strongest alternative to the Congress after former Chief Minister Shanta Kumar, another party senior.

But even as Nadda has plans to address a rally at Kullu, apart from Nurpur and inaugurate party offices at both places, the BJP still needs to undertake a major revamping to make it fighting fit for the 2024 Lok Sabha poll.

Those who were side-lined or denied tickets, are yet to be roped back in the party fold.

Some of the old party faces such as Kripal Parmar—a former Rajya Sabha member, who defied Prime Minister Narendra Modi to retire from the contest in 2022 poll as a rebel candidate, former ministers Rakesh Pathania, Gulab Singh Thakur, Roop Singh Thakur , former MLAs—Hira Lala, Jawahar Thakur and Col Inder Singh are extremely disappointed with the leadership. Jawahar Thakur had gone public to question the functioning of the BJP.

Yet, another development which has not gone well in the cadres is naming Harsh Mahajan, former Congress leader and staunch loyalist of Virbhadra Singh, as member of the BJP core committee. Mahajan had joined the BJP ahead of the state assembly polls yet did not contest the election.

During his visit, Nadda obviously will be called upon to address the basic issues before he puts the party on mission 2024 in Himachal Pradesh and also diagnose the internal ailments for an effective solution.

In 2014 and later in 2019 ,the BJP had won all four Lok Sabha seats but it lost Mandi in the bypoll to Pratibha Singh, wife of former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh in 2021.

The BJP, currently busy in ‘maha sampark abhiyan’ to highlight Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s nine-year achievements, is eyeing to win all four seats once again.