New Delhi: Anti-incumbency against the ruling BJP government, the issue of price rise, coupled with the Congress' promises of restoring the old pension scheme and providing Rs 1,500 to every woman perhaps drew voters to the grand old party in Himachal Pradesh.
The people of the hill state followed the tradition of changing the incumbent government by voting out the BJP from power as they rejected its much-hyped slogan of 'Raj nahin, riwaaj badlenge' (changing tradition, not the government).
The BJP launched an all-out personalised campaign led by PM Modi himself, but voters went by local rather than national issues.
Instead of the incumbent chief minister, the electorate preferred to have a new face from the Congress, where Virbhadra Singh had dominated the party's politics for four decades.
This is the first election that the Congress fought without Virbhadra Singh, who passed away in July 2021. Singh's wife Pratibha Singh is the PCC chief who steered the party to victory this time while riding on Virbhadra's legacy.