Theog, a tehsil in the Shimla district of Himachal Pradesh and famous for its potatoes, is totally a transformed site. It has witnessed the rise of political power and a woman politician falling back to the left wing for the first time in its 70-year eventful journey.
The constituency, formed in 1952, had first elected Jiwanoo Ram, a member of the Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party—an off-shoot of the Indian National Congress formed in 1951. In the 2017 assembly elections—when the state was swept by the BJP, Theog voted for Rakesh Singha, a CPM candidate who won this seat of the apple-belt by a narrow margin against three-time MLA Rakesh Verma. Verma, son of former Director General of Police RR Verma, died sometime back as the BJP has fielded a new face Ajay Shyam to challenge Singha on his home turf.
Known as a strong fortress of Congress veteran Vidya Stokes—a politician whose father-in-law Satyanand Stokes brought the apple revolution to Himachal Pradesh, Theog has risen from a potato growing belt to the producer of high-trade delicious apples.
The 94-year-old Stokes, who won five elections from Theog, remained the state assembly speaker, twice a cabinet minister, and just missed the chance to be the state’s first women chief minister—a dream she had seen even in the early days of her career. She did not contest the 2017 election as the seat she first offered to Virbhadra Singh, but eventually, the ticket was given to little-known Deepak Rathore, who lost badly. Stokes chose to take a back seat at her home due to old age and failing memory. “Health wise she is okay and follows the same dietary schedule. She survives on fruits and boiled vegetables for many years nowhere close,” her close aids reveal.
During all his terms as minister or Speaker, Stokes did not draw money as a salary from the government but rather gave a donation of lakhs to build the Congress office in Shimla. In a tough triangular fight at Theog (Stokes political legacy), the Congress is once again back to reckoning as former PCC president Kuldeep Rathore, 62, is trying his destiny as a first-time candidate for any election.
Though facing two rebels—Vijay Pal Khachi—son of legendary Congress leader JBL Khachi, a former minister, and Indu Verma, wife of former MLA Rakesh Verma, Rathore seems to be having some upper hand because of the Congress seeing its chances to return to power as per the trend of alternating governments.
The apple and cherry orchards in Theog, which also comprise apple hotspots of Thanedar, Kotgarh, Matiyana, Narkanda and Kumarsain, have always been showcasing the changing fortunes of the farmers. The cash crops grown in the area have also brought wealth, while many families have persons serving in the government.
So what's the big issue in Theog—a gateway to the state’s apple bowl of Jubbal-Kotkhai, Rohru, Chopal and Rampur constituencies—all Congress dominant areas. Chopal fell to the BJP in the 2017 elections because of Balbir Verma, a builder-turned-politician, who got elected as an Independent but slowly made his roots to the BJP. Verma is the sole hope for the BJP in the apple country, where the ruling party is under attack for ill-treating, ignoring, and “killing” the Rs 5,500-crore apple economy of the state during the past five years.
Thus, the BJP is fighting a tough battle in this poll with farmers’ issues, putting the ruling party on the back foot. Prakash Thakur, a former vice-chairman, HPMC—a horticulture produce and marketing Corporation, says, “There are multiple issues working against the BJP. First, they raised the GST on apple cartons to 18 per cent. This led to big agitation. The stir against the GST on cartons has not yet been withdrawn but now the growers see the return of the Congress to reverse the decision”. The subsidy available to the growers on fungicides has also been withdrawn. The prices of the fungicides have gone up from Rs 50 (subsided) to Rs 500-550 per litre.
Sanjay Chauhan, co-convenor of the Joint Action Committee (JAC) of apple growers, says, “Horticulture minister Mohinder Singh’s attitude towards apple growers' issues was negative. This was also a big factor for apple producers' agitation.” The BJP is bound to pay a political cost of making Mohinder Singh the horticulture minister for five years and not inducting Narinder Bragta, a former minister and MLA from Jubbal-Kotkhai into the cabinet.
