As Haryana goes to the polls today, the incumbent BJP, aiming for a third consecutive term, faces a formidable challenge from Congress, which is eager to reclaim power after a decade-long absence. However, the dynamics in neighbouring Congress-ruled Himachal Pradesh could influence voter sentiments in Haryana, highlighting the interconnectedness of regional politics in this election cycle. A pressing factor in the Haryana polling is the Congress's failed "guarantee model" in Himachal Pradesh, which the BJP has found to be a potent weapon to prove that the Congress guarantees rolled-out in Haryana, partially borrowed from Himachal Pradesh, will not work and are bound to collapse soon.
“The unfulfilled commitments have sparked widespread discontent in Himachal Pradesh—where the state is now struggling to pay salaries and pensions to the staff and retired employees. Most facilities available to the people have neither been withdrawn nor curtailed owing to the financial crisis” says Leader of Opposition Jairam Thakur, who is campaigning in Haryana in the areas next to the state’s borders. This, he says, has cast doubts on the Congress' credibility and potential to influence voter sentiment in Haryana.
Thakur says the debt burden of Himachal Pradesh, currently at Rs 90,000 cr, will exceed Rs one lakh crore by the end of the year. The state has been pushed to bankruptcy. For the first time, government employees did not get their salaries in time and pensioners had to waitin.