After failing to open its account in the 2014 and 2019 LS polls, the governing Congress’s hopes of victory were dashed a third time.
Despite both the CM and deputy CM being from Hamirpur, Congress could not win this LS seat, nor could it win Shimla seat despite half the cabinet hailing from here.
Failure to pit a strong candidate against BJP’s Anurag Thakur, who was contesting his fifth consecutive election from Hamirpur Lok Sabha seat, cost the governing party.
Lok Sabha Elections
Assembly Elections
Congress had initially planned to field deputy CM Mukesh Agnihotri and his daughter, Aastha Agnihotri, but they refused, citing family reasons. There was also speculation that CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu’s wife would contest, but the party finally settled on former Una MLA Satpal Raizada.
Congress’s attempt to make Agniveer, the old pension scheme and expansion of the rail network as election issues did not help it against BJP.
Saffron candidate Kangana Ranaut won in Mandi. Congress politicians had targeted her on the “beef” issue but it seems BJP’s slogan “Mandi ki Beti” and Modi’s defence of her worked in her favour, as did support from women voters.
Congress candidate and state PWD minister Vikramaditya Singh, son of the late former CM Virbhadra Singh and state Congress president Pratibha Singh, could not cash in on the “royal” factor or developmental works carried out by his late father in Mandi Lok Sabha area.
BJP had relied on sitting MP Suresh Kashyap by fielding him once again from Shimla, while Congress had fielded Kasauli MLA Vinod Sultanpuri, whose father, the late KD Sultanpuri, had won this seat six times. But Kashyap managed to win.
In Kangra, after BJP denied a ticket to sitting MP Kishan Kapoor, who had won the 2019 LS election by 4,77,623 votes, and fielded Rajeev Bhardwaj from this seat, Congress was hoping to win and had fielded former Union minister Anand Sharma. But BJP managed to counter Sharma by projecting Bhardwaj as a “son of the soil”. Kangra’s voters were also not happy with the representation of the constituency in govt.