People's Democracy

CPI(M) Appears Leading in Shimla

EVEN though the Shimla Urban assembly constituency witnessed the lowest percentage of voting in the November 4 polls, it does not mean that the contest was less complicated or less interesting here. On the polling day, the constituency --- which encompasses the state assembly, the secretariat and the Raj Bhawan --- saw only 13,873 or 58.87 per cent of the voters exercising their franchise. The main contest on this prestigious seat was between Suresh Bhardwaj, the sitting MLA belonging to the BJP, Harish Janartha of the Congress and Tikender Singh Panwar of the CPI(M). Interestingly enough, Janartha has twice been deputy mayor of Shimla when there was the system of indirect election to the post, while Tikender Panwar is the incumbent deputy mayor, elected directly by the people. He got a big lead when the Shimla municipal corporation had had, five months ago, its first polls under the direct elections system.

It was quite natural that from the very start the CPI(M) got the lead in this constituency which is confined to 16 wards of the municipal corporation. This lead has had three aspects. First, voters in most of these wards voted for the CPI(M) nominee only five months back. Second, the young candidate of the party conducted a remarkable mass contact campaign, visiting each and every house, shop and office in his area. Whether it was the mass contact campaign in the Lower Bazaar on October 30 or the huge mass contact procession that started from the Lakkad Bazaar on November 1, passed through the most crowded markets of the city and went up to Sabzi Mandi, it was very clear that the CPI(M)’s candidate has personal rapport with every single shopkeeper.

A third and perhaps the most important aspect of this lead is that after having won this assembly seat in 1993, the CPI(M) has been in the contest here, in fact at the second position. This shows the political influence as well as its organisational strength in this employees-preponderant seat which encompasses the Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) and several other educational and other institutions. The constituency has also a sizeable number of hotel workers among whom the CPI(M) has a powerful base. On the other hand, it appears that the party’s unambiguous stand on the issue of FDI in retail trade has earned goodwill from a large number of small shopkeepers and traders. Students and teachers too, and also a large chunk of intelligentsia, are angry over the Dhumal government’s rampant drive for commercialisation of education which has led to establishment of three private universities in just one tehsil of Solan district and as many as 20 private colleges in various parts of the state.    

While not having a representative in the state assembly, the CPI(M) has forcefully, courageously and boldly conducted a number of agitations on the issues of workers, peasants, students, employees, women and those displaced by various projects. This has earned a specific image for the party --- as the only real opposition in the state. While the Congress and the BJP have been claiming to be the only alternative to each other, it is now amply clear that they are at one in following the anti-people policies as well as in perpetrating corruption scams. This has disillusioned the people to a great extent and thus contributed to the growth of the CPI(M)’s prestige. This was clear, among other things, from the CPI(M)’s powerful victory on the mayor as well as deputy mayor posts only five months back, while no less a person than the chief minister, Prem Kumar Dhumal of the BJP, had described these direct municipal elections as the “semi-final” of the assembly polls. 

On its part, the CPI(M) did not rest content with its victory on the mayor and deputy mayor posts. It did take several pro-people steps in this short duration, and the CPI(M) Polit Bureau member, Sitaram Yechury specifically underlined two of the steps taken by the corporation under the leadership of Sanjay Chauhan, the mayor, and Tikender Singh Panwar, the deputy mayor. The first step was that the duo has effectively blocked implementation of the state government’s decision to impose property tax on all houses, shops and other properties on the basis of unit area method. The second step was that the duo has blocked the state government’s move to privatise the water distribution system in the city, and has taken effective steps to mitigate the problem of water shortage here. Whenever the Shimla mayor and deputy mayor narrated these and other pro-people steps, and added that election of as many CPI(M) and Himachal Lok Morcha (HLM) candidates to the state assembly as possible is a must for more such steps as it is the assembly that makes such policies, the people of Shimla could not but agree with their contention.

There was also another point in their favour. While the CPI(M) contested in 15 seats of the state assembly, the Himachal Lokhit Party (HLP) and the CPI, other constituents of the HML, contested the remaining 53 seats, and it is thus that the HML presented a viable alternative in the background of the growing discontent against and disillusionment with the Congress and BJP. It was no wonder that the Congress candidate’s was a lacklustre campaign despite the big rally addressed by Mrs Sonia Gandhi in Shimla while the people’s anger against the Dhumal government had made the forward movement of the BJP candidate quite difficult.