The results of the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) and urban local body polls in Himachal Pradesh have come as a setback for the ruling Congress ahead of the Assembly elections in 2027.
Amid claims and counterclaims of victory by the Congress and the opposition BJP, it is the Congress that is witnessing infighting coming out in the open, with party leaders blaming various factors within the party for the defeat, without directly naming the leadership.
Apprehensive from the very beginning, the Congress government was hesitant to hold the PRI and urban local body polls in Himachal Pradesh and tried its best to delay them on the pretext of the Disaster Management Act being in force after the worst natural calamity of 2025. For the first time, a state government went to the Supreme Court seeking a delay in the polls after the High Court held that the PRI and urban local body polls had to be held within the stipulated period. The SC directed that the elections be held before May 31, 2026.
Contrary to its own apprehensions, however, the performance of the ruling Congress was good in the municipal council polls held on May 17 despite not giving its official list of candidates for this elections. The party maintained that the elections were not being held on party symbols, though many believed it was also trying to avoid the impact of anti-incumbency. After candidates supported by the Congress emerged victorious, the party quickly claimed credit for the results.
The outcome boosted Congress morale when the municipal council results were announced on May 18, especially as the party performed well in the larger districts of Kangra, Mandi and Shimla, apart from Sirmaur and Chamba.
Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu claimed that the Congress had won in 32 of the 47 municipal bodies while the Opposition BJP claimed it won 120 of the 229 municipal council seats. It is pertinent to mention that the BJP had released an official list of candidates for the municipal council polls, although these polls were not held on party symbols.
But the celebrations were short-lived for the Congress as the PRI polls held on May 26, 28 and 30, along with the elections to four municipal corporations, the results of which were declared on May 31, jolted the ruling party.
The municipal corporation polls in Dharamsala, Palampur, Mandi and Solan were fought on party symbols, and the Congress managed to win just Palampur and that too because of the personal rapport of Congress MLA Ashish Butail. The Congress badly lost the three MCs - Dharamshala, Mandi and Solan and also performed poorly in most of the PRI polls, including in the home districts of the Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister and other ministers.
This has now brought the bickering within the Congress party into the open. Some ministers believe the party should have addressed troubling issues before the polls. The Chief Minister, however, is still in denial over the party defeats in the MCs and PRIs, Horticulture and Revenue Minister Jagat Singh Negi has blamed the delay in formation of the party's organisational structure. Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri has spoken about the need to resolve internal differences within the party in time.
The BJP, which openly backed its candidates from the beginning, has claimed victory for BJP-supported candidates in 144 of the 250 Zila Parishad seats, against 60 won by Congress-backed candidates. It has also claimed victory in 1,109 of the 1,769 Block Development Committee wards, while Congress-backed candidates won 477. The opposition party also claimed that more than 60 per cent of the Pradhans and Up-Pradhans elected across the state were also associated with the BJP ideology.
Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu seems uncomfortable with the outcome but is not ready to accept that the BJP performed better than the Congress in these elections. “These elections are fought on individual image, family relations and local issues. They have nothing to do with the Assembly polls. The BJP should better worry about the various camps that have emerged within the party,” Sukhu told mediapersons.
His remark that the BJP's victory in the Mandi Municipal Corporation was due more to BJP MLA Anil Sharma's influence than to Leader of the Opposition Jai Ram Thakur's standing in his home district has already attracted criticism and trolling on social media.
The BJP, on the other hand, firmly believes the results reflect growing public dissatisfaction with the Congress government. “In three and a half years, they have only spoken lies and made false promises. These elections are a kind of referendum on the state government's policies and actions. The Congress is bound to face a complete rout in the 2027 Assembly elections now,” said Leader of the Opposition and former Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur.
When asked about reports of infighting and public blame games within the BJP in some areas, Thakur said the party was taking all instances of indiscipline seriously and would address them appropriately.
Yet, amid this political hullabaloo, what is further adding to the Congress party's troubles at thus critical moment is the public criticism of the state government's functioning by Neeraj Bharti, former Congress MLA and son of Agriculture Minister Chander Kumar, on social media.
Moreover, voices of dissent within the Congress have largely gone unheard during the party's three-and-a-half-year tenure in Himachal Pradesh, a factor that may not augur well for it ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections. “Such an attitude has damaged the Congress in the past as well, including when six MLAs revolted against the Sukhu government. The party high command must address the issue now,” said some senior Congress leaders.
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