Himachal Pradesh to seal Congress, BJP fate today

SHIMLA: When independent India’s first voter, 90-year-old Shyam Saran Negi, hits a button on Sunday, the age-old issue of corruption and price rise over the past few months will play on his mind.

Around 46 lakh voters in Himachal Pradesh will decide what is being seen as an acid test for both the Congress and the BJP. For the Congress, the vote is a sort of referendum on the slew of corruption allegations against the party and its chief campaigner Virbhadra Singh. For the BJP, it’s another step in its quest for the Delhi throne if it can retain the state under Prem Kumar

Price rise, graft key issues in Himachal polls

As Himachal goes into election mode, the big issue on the minds of the 46 lakh voters is price rise especially of cooking gas, besides corruption . increasing in a state where people eke out a living in inhospitable terrain, thousands of feet above sea level .The BJP would be anxious to ward off the anti-incumbency factor in a state that has not returned any party to power in the past five elections since 1990. The Congress, on the other hand, will be keen to salvage lost pride with a win.

For the 459 candidates in fray for the 68-seat state assembly , it’s a do-or-die fight. An interesting fight is also taking place in the sidelines - a mini-Bengal polls, with traditional rivals Trinamool Congress putting up candidates in 28 seats to test the political waters in the north and a resurgent Left, fresh from winning the mayor and deputy mayor posts in Shimla's civic polls, clashing like they do in faraway West Bengal.

However,the potential party-pooper could be Himachal Lokhit Party, recently formed by BJP dissident Maheswar Singh that has fielded 36 candidates . The BSP has 66 candidates , while NCP has put 12 candidates in the fray.