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Updated: Mar 11, 2019 16:57 IST

The political journey of Virender Kashyap, 69, Member of Parliament from Shimla Lok Sabha constituency, speaks volumes about his never-say-die attitude.

A prominent Dalit face of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Himachal Pradesh, he faced one after another electoral defeat in his political career spanning nearly four decades before lady luck finally smiled at him in 2009 when he won from the Shimla Lok Sabha constituency by defeating his nearest rival Dhani Ram Shandil of the Congress by a margin of 27,327 votes.

By then, he had lost six parliamentary and four assembly elections. But the electoral defeats never discouraged the man who seems to have been inspired by the legend of a spider. In 2009, many in the BJP were sceptical of the decision to give him the party ticket.

The founder of the ‘Samajik Dalit Peedit Uthan Sansthan, an organisation that works for uplift of the community in Shimla, Sirmaur and Solan districts, Kashyap is looking to score a hat-trick in the lower house of Parliament even as the party is yet to decide his candidature.

During his tenure, he extensively toured the constituency and raised many issues in Parliament. But unfulfilled poll promises and a strong anti-incumbency factor are likely to go against him.

No tribal status for Trans-Giri region

One of Kashyap’s major poll promises to his electorate includes getting tribal status for the Hatti community of the remote Trans-Giri region in Sirmaur district. Nearly 50% of population of the district comprises the community that lives in difficult conditions across the Giri river.

Ever since Jaunsar and Babbar areas of Uttarakhand, which share boundary with the Trans-Giri area, were granted tribal status in 1967, the Hattis have been demanding the same, but to no avail. A delegation comprising Kashyap and BJP leaders from Sirmaur called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi several times on the issue. Even the state government has also requested the Centre on several occasions, with little headway.

“When our traditions, rituals and geographical terrain are the same as that of Jaunsar and Babbar, why should we be denied of the scheduled tribal status.” says Pratap Singh Tomar, convener of Central Haati Samiti.

No rail network expansion

Kashyap had raised the issue of modernising and beautification of the heritage Shimla-Kalka rail line. The BJP government in the state even introduced new vista dome coaches for travellers on the rail line. The state has also requested railway minister Piyush Goyal to increase speed of the Shimla-Kalka train from existing 25 kilometers per hour.

Currently, it takes about five hours for the train to reach Shimla from Kalka.

The railways conducted a trial but did not provide a high-speed engine for the coaches. The MP had demanded a railway line between Ghanuali in Punjab and Dehradun in Uttrarakhand via Nalagarh, Baddi and Barotiwala but even remains unfulfilled.

Promises to apple belt unfulfilled

The BJP ahead of 2014 elections had wooed the well-off apple-growing belt that traditionally sided with the Congress by promising to increase import duty on the fruit. Even Narendra Modi during his rally in Solan in the run-up to the 2014 polls promised to raise duty on apple import besides assuring to set up fruit processing units in apple-growing areas.

In the last five years, apple import in India has gone up from 1.22 lakh tonnes to 3 lakh tonnes.

Congress’ Rohru MLA Mohan Lal Brakta, who contested the Lok Sabha elections against Kashyap in 2014, “Kashyap this time spent more time in Delhi than in public. He made many lofty promises but most of them have remained on paper. He also discriminated the regions while making allocations from the MPLAD fund.”



