HP polls: BJP leaders taking emotional route

Shimla, Oct 31 – It is an unending saga of emotional tears that are being shed nowadays to gain public sympathy ahead of the November 12 Himachal Pradesh Assembly polls by many a leader of the ruling dispensation.
Union Minister Anurag Thakur initiated the trend when he first broke down during canvassing for the BJP at Sujanpur-Tehra in Hamirpur district.
Then it was former BJP MP Maheshwar Singh who couldn’t hold back his tears. BJP gave him a ticket from Kullu but later snatched it away as he was dumped by the party, punishing him for his son’s decision to be in the fray from Banjar of Kullu district.
BJP is already facing double damage as senior BJP leader from Kullu district and Dhumal loyalist Khimi Ram Thakur has joined Congress and now is in the fray against BJP’s sitting MLA Surender Shourie.

The saffron party is facing a triangular battle between Hiteshwar Singh (son of Maheshwar Singh who is the chief trustee or Chatibardar of Sultanpur Raghunath temple) and Khimi Ram Thakur.
Deputy Speaker Hansraj who had to face public ire over his two social media clippings that were leaked recently, was the next to get all emotional.
The deputy speaker also broke down in public. Hansraj, a teacher-turned-politician is in the fray for his fourth term. He shed copious tears after he was rebuked by the party’s high command for his public outrage seen on a video clip that showed him in a classroom slapping a student for laughing.
Hansraj was counseling students about Covid vaccination. He sought an apology from the kids and it went viral on social media.
The other incident is audio from the parents of the student that later surfaced. Hansraj also threatened a Principal of Jawahar Navodaya School Chamba. He told the school head that he could be transferred to Kabul or Kandhar for not following Hansraj’s dictate allowing admission to the deputy speaker’s relative’s son in the school.
Earlier Chairperson of state Gramin Bank and party candidate from Rohru, Shashi Bala, former Chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal and BJP leader Kripal Parmar also was seen crying in public.
Bala was a BJP leader who condemned the Himachal Pradesh High Court twice for acting as an extra-Constitutional authority to issue a Demi-office note to effect the transfer of employees. She tendered an apology for making the remarks and humiliating her party.
Dhumal who succeeded to come into power with an absolute majority in Himachal Pradesh in 2007 and successfully ran a BJP coalition government from 1998 to 2003 was sidelined by parry in 2017 as he steered the ruling BJP to power with the nearly two-thirds majority but himself lost the elections.
BJP elected incumbent Jai Ram Thakur as chief minister in place of Dhumal and he did not get tickets in 2022 Assembly Election as well. Dhumal broke down at a public meeting at Sujanpur-Tehra as he could not hide his emotion facing Nadda’s decision. Dhumal and Nadda are considered political adversaries.