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Pro-incumbency Favoured the BJP in Himachal Pradesh
The 2019 Lok Sabha elections in Himachal Pradesh saw an all-time high polling percentage. The Bharatiya Janata Party emerged as a party that was supported across various sections irrespective of caste, gender, age and education statuses, as reflected in its escalated vote share.
The 2019 Lok Sabha election results in Himachal Pradesh are significant for three important reasons: an all-time high polling percentage in the state; a surge in vote share of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP); and the BJP garnering support cutting across caste, community, age, gender, education, and locality. Having had its voting in the last phase of elections on 19 May 2019, Himachal Pradesh recorded its highest ever polling of over 72%. This is about 8 percentage points higher than the last Lok Sabha elections held in 2014 and 5 percentage points above the national average in 2019.
The BJP vote share increased by a sharp 16 percentage points as compared to the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, whereas the Indian National Congress (INC), the other key player in the state’s bipolar political contest, saw a vote share decline of around 13 percentage points (Table 1, p 19). Winning all the four parliamentary constituencies in the state, the BJP’s dramatic lead in all 68 assembly segments, spread across four parliamentary constituencies, makes this election result unique.
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