Assembly Elections 2017: BJP misses a brave face in Himachal Pradesh

Party insiders say without a chief ministerial candidate, victory may not be as easy as they imagine

Himachal Pradesh has not generated the animated debate and discussion that Gujarat has among talking heads and the plebeians, although both states will vote together in December, wrapping up a politically tumultuous 2017.
 
The Election Commission is expected to announce the schedule for the Lahaul and Spiti Assembly constituencies shortly, which vote ahead of the rest of the state because the district becomes snow-bound by early November.
 

Source: Data obtained from Election Commission of India website

Himachal is a dot on the map of India. But the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has high stakes in it, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the party President Amit Shah kicking off their campaigns. Modi has a personal connect with the hill state. As BJP general secretary in the 1990s, he was the Himachal “prabhari” (minder) and became close to former chief minister (CM) Prem Kumar Dhumal, who facilitated his visit to the Rohtang Pass.