Turning down the narrative of “double engine” government, Himachal Pradesh once again voted Congress in with a thumping majority of seats. The Congress’s win can be attributed to a series of factors such as the promise of old pension scheme for about 1,50,000 employees, anti-incumbency linked to poor performance of the Jai Ram Thakur government, and intra-party factionalism in Bharatiya Janata Party. The thesis that India has gone down the path of “de jure majoritarianism” from “de facto majoritarianism” since 2019 receives a setback with the Congress’s victory in HP. This election also proved that the party system of HP remains predominantly a two-party system and there is lesser space for a third party like the Aam Aadmi Party which could only secure less than 1% votes.
