Daggers Drawn Ahead of 2027: Governance Takes a Backseat as Raj Bhavan and Secretariat Run Parallel Shows Over Chamba
SHIMLA / CHAMBA, Oct 24
In a telling display of the deepening institutional and political divide in Himachal Pradesh, Chamba district became the subject of two competing power projections on Saturday.
While Governor Kavinder Gupta presided over a central-scheme showcase at Chamba’s historic Chowgan flanked by the BJP brass, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu countered from Shimla by launching a state-backed branding initiative for Chamba’s remote Pangi valley.
With assembly elections in neighboring Punjab and Uttarakhand slated for early 2027—and Himachal’s own polls following later that year—the day’s split-screen optics left little doubt that governance in the hill state has been entirely overtaken by pre-poll turf wars.
Raj Bhavan’s ‘Viksit Bharat’ Pitch in Chamba
Inaugurating the 3rd Destination Himachal Expo 2026 under the banner of ‘Viksit Bharat–Viksit Himachal’, Governor Kavinder Gupta read out what essentially served as a report card of the Narendra Modi government.
Emphasizing the Atal Tunnel, Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), ‘Vocal for Local’, and the PM Vishwakarma scheme, the Governor urged Chamba’s youth and artisans to look toward Central Government initiatives to become job creators.
Strikingly, the Governor’s address completely bypassed the policies and presence of the elected state government in Shimla.
Instead, the event functioned as a rallying point for the saffron camp in Chamba. Organised with the backing of Kangra-Chamba BJP MP Dr. Rajeev Bhardwaj, the stage and front rows were dominated by BJP leaders, including MLA Hans Raj and former MLAs Vikram Jaryal, Pawan Nayyar, and Jiya Lal Kapoor—leaving local Congress MLA Neeraj Nayyar as a lone representative of the ruling party at a state-level function in his own constituency.
Sukhu’s Shimla Counter: The ‘Pangi Apple’ Card
Almost simultaneously in Shimla, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu bypassed the Chamba expo altogether to roll out his administration’s own narrative for the exact same district.
Alongside Revenue Minister Jagat Singh Negi and Congress legislators from Kangra, Sukhu launched the naturally produced ‘Pangi Apple’ brand, touting Pangi as Himachal’s first chemical-free Natural Farming Sub-Division.
Positioning the state government as the true benefactor of Chamba’s 6,300 tribal farming households, Sukhu announced a 50 percent subsidy on customized 10 kg and 20 kg cartons to free Pangi’s 550 metric tonnes of apple produce from being sold under Kullu or Kinnaur labels.
While framed as an agricultural milestone, the timing and parallel execution in Shimla underscored a clear refusal by the Congress government to share a platform or credit with a Centre-aligned Raj Bhavan.
INDIA Bloc War Cry vs. Saffron Mobilization
The confrontation was not limited to government stages. Escalating the political offensive, INDIA bloc partners—led by AICC state in-charge Rajni Patil, newly minted State Congress Chief Vinay Kumar, and veteran CPI(M) leader Rakesh Singha—sounded the bugle for a massive protest rally in New Delhi.
Targeting Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the controversial Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, and PM Modi the alliance made it clear that national opposition politics will heavily dictate Himachal’s local agenda in the coming months.
The Ground Reality: All Politics, Zero Synergy
Caught between the BJP’s aggressive Viksit Bharat@2047 machinery and the Congress’s INDIA bloc counter-mobilization is the ordinary citizen of Himachal Pradesh.
Chamba remains an "aspirational district" grappling with fragile hill infrastructure, unemployment, and market bottlenecks that require seamless Centre-State coordination.
Instead, Saturday proved that as the daggers come out for the 2027 electoral cycle, public platforms are no longer spaces for collaborative development—they are merely trenches for a bitter political tug-of-war.
