From Unemployment to Road Infrastructure: Here Are Top Issues Faced by Himachal Voters Before Polls

With just a week left for the Himachal Pradesh assembly elections, political parties are mapping the state, making their case for voters. The hill state traditionally favors voting out incumbent parties.

This year, the ruling BJP, Congress, AAP and CPI(M) are in fight for the 68 assembly seats. From political rallies, to financial assistance political parties are leaving no stone unturned to woo voters.

Lets take a look at top issues that concern voters at the Himachal Pradesh Assembly Polls on November 12.

Unemployment

The lack of jobs is a consistent concern of Indian voters before elections. In the hill state, unemployment rate was at 9.2 per cent in September and 8.6 per cent in October this year. This is above the national average of 7.6 percent, according to Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), India Today reported.

Himachal has approximately 15 lakh unemployed persons, of whom 8.77 lakh have registered for jobs with employment exchanges, according to a survey, India Today reported.

Agnipath scheme

As protests erupted against the government’s newly launched Agnipath scheme for recruitment in country’s defense forces, Himachal Pradesh was not behind. Several protests have happened in the state, involving youths preparing to get into defense services.

Himachal is estimated to have around 2.8 lakh people who are currently in the defense services or have retired, according to The Indian Express. Congress on Friday promised to provide 1 lakh jobs, restore the Old Pension Scheme and provide financial assistance of Rs 1,500 to every woman in Himachal Pradesh if it is voted to power in the upcoming Assembly polls. The rate of unemployment among the youth just makes this issue even more important.

Issues of apple growers 

While Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jairam Thakur believes the government has addressed the issue of apple growers over goods and services tax (GST) increase and payment of pending market intervention schemes amount, the mood in the industry is somber.

Experts believe that apple-growers impact nine to ten assembly segments.

Many believe the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government has neglected them and killed their profits by taking away subsidies on fungicides and other things and increasing GST on items essential for the industry.

A case in point, Pankaj Negi, also called ‘Guru ji’ of the apple industry, who started apple-growing 25 years ago. While he has voted for both the Congress and BJP in the past, depending on the candidate, he is now hoping for the Congress to return and re-start their subsidy.

Road Infrastructure

The arduous terrain of the state means several regions being cut off due to lack of proper road infrastructure. Better road connectivity has been an important issue for voters consistently.

Nearly 11,000 villages out of the state’s  17,882  have proper network of road leaving at least 39 per cent of villages with inadequate road infrastructure, India Today said.

How voting becomes difficult due to this: Apart from their daily life, this issue also makes voting a mammoth task. At an altitude of over 15,000 feet to 93 voters having to trudge along 14km to reach their nearest polling station, this issue makes voting difficult.

There are a total 65 polling stations at a height of 10,000-12,000 ft, while 20 are above 12,000 ft. Moreover, total of 1.20 lakh voters are above the age of 80, including 1,181 persons who are above 100 years.

Meanwhile, to woo Himachal voters, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday is scheduled to address rallies in the poll-bound state. Taking to Twitter today, PM Modi said BJP is going to the people with the proven track record of development and highlighting the pro-people efforts of the double engine governments. “I look forward to being in Himachal Pradesh tomorrow, 5th November. I would be addressing rallies in Sundar Nagar and Solan. BJP Himachal is going to the people with the proven track record of development and highlighting the pro-people efforts of the double engine governments,” he tweeted.

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