BJP MPs back in constituencies tomorrow as PM Modi focuses on Himachal Pradesh

To mark the eighth anniversary of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government, all members of Parliament including Cabinet ministers have been asked to go back to their respective constituencies for the next two days and participate in public functions organized by the BJP. The Rajya Sabha MPs have been designated a particular constituency to visit in the run up to May 31.

While all the Cabinet Ministers and BJP MPs will be present in their respective constituencies on May 30, the day Narendra Modi was sworn in the second time, they will also sit with the public to hear the PM address the rally at Shimla Ridge on May 31. The ridge symbolically also separates the Indus and Ganges River system.

It is understood that PM Modi is expected to make a major announcement from the Shimla Ridge, apart from giving out the report card of his government since 2014, with the direct benefit transfer scheme, as well as vaccine delivery, being the highlight. However, the PM, by holding a rally in Shimla, is bringing the party focus on the Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections later this year and energizing the workers. The incumbent chief minister Jairam Thakur faces a stiff electoral challenge from Congress and a resurgent AAP after the party swept neighbouring Punjab in March 2022.

Given that the BJP recently lost the Mandi Lok Sabha seat and three Assembly seats recently, PM Modi has decided to galvanize the party in Himachal Pradesh and will be spending two nights in Dharamshala in Kangra district next month. While PM Modi will be addressing all India chief secretaries' meeting on June 17 in Dharmshala, he will use this opportunity to garner public support in a region where the BJP has traditionally faced an electoral challenge.

Although BJP President J P Nadda belongs to Bilaspur in Himachal Pradesh, and information and broadcasting minister Anurag Thakur is a three-time MP from Hamirpur, the top leadership of the party has already dispatched one of its national vice presidents to organize the party workers on the ground in the hill state. The BJP knows that Congress still has significant electoral support in Himachal and any let-up in the campaign could prove costly in the long run with PM Modi himself spending a long time in the state during his organization days.