Kaza (Himachal Pradesh): In secluded Himalayan hamlets nestled close to the icy heights adjoining Tibet, political intrigue seems to be a world away.
Among the stark, rugged and landlocked landscapes here, the inhabitants, mostly the Buddhists, devote themselves to the season’s harvest of peas, barley, and potatoes, weaving their lives around the cycles of the Earth rather than the clamour of distant power plays.
Hardworking women farmers in the picturesque Spiti Valley are currently preparing fields for sowing peas, the main crop from late May to mid-September.
They told IANS that if they busy themselves with political activities, they will miss the sowing season, something they can ill-afford to do.
Kaza, part of the remote but picturesque Lahaul-Spiti District in Himachal Pradesh, falls in the sprawling Mandi parliamentary constituency, one of the toughest and covers almost two-thirds of the state.
Incidentally, this time the people of Kaza will also vote for their MLA and incumbent Ravi Thakur, who represented the Lahaul-Spiti seat, but resigned as a Congress lawmaker.
He’s again in the fray for the bypoll as a BJP nominee and is pitted against Congress candidate Anuradha Rana.
BJP rebel and former minister Ram Lal Markanda is also trying his luck but as an Independent candidate.
For the Mandi parliamentary constituency, the battleground shifts between “royalty” and “reel”, as Congress legislator Vikramaditya Singh, the scion of the erstwhile royal family and son of Virbhadra Singh, challenges actress Kangana Ranaut.
Vikramaditya has toured Kaza, while Kangana is yet to knock on doors asking for votes. The outgoing MP Pratibha Singh has opted out of the election.
The world’s highest polling station, Tashigang (15,256 feet), is located in the Spiti Valley. It’s currently covered in a blanket of snow. Kaza is located at an altitude higher than Leh, where temperatures plummet below minus 30 degrees centigrade in winter.
“Owing to economic significance, we are currently busy sowing peas. If there is a delay in sowing, the crop would be impacted,” remarked local grower Anita Bodh.
Another farmer Lahmo Bodh added, “These politicians come only when they seek our votes. Once they get elected, they will disappear. In November 2022, we had voted to elect our legislator. Now he’s again in the fray, but has switched sides. This is bad practice. We will go and vote but will not attend public meetings as we are busy doing household chores and farming.”
In Spiti, women farmers play a prominent role in agricultural tasks, from field preparation to sowing, irrigation and harvesting. They opt for minimal use of fertilisers and rely on manure.
After transitioning to apple cultivation in the arid terrain as the primary cash crop, their earnings have spiked.
As per field reports, the visiting politicians are getting an audience of less than 150 at their public meetings.
Thirteen gram panchayats fall in the Spiti Valley, mainly populated by tribals, who are largely farmers. The gram panchayats are Losar, Kibber, Kaza, Langcha, Demul, Lalung, Dhankar, Tabo, Gue, Hal, Khurik, Kungri and Saganam.
For the politicians too, it is tough to reach out to their constituents via road. To reach Kaza, helicopter is the easiest, time-saving mode of transportation. And to reach some of the tiny hamlets, with elevations ranging from 15,000 feet to 20,000 feet above the mean sea level, one has to trudge more than 10 kms.
Kaza is some 320 kms from state capital Shimla through Kinnaur District and equidistant from the picturesque Manali tourist resort and the Lahaul Valley via Kunzum Pass.
The bumpy and uncomfortable drive from Shimla and Manali towns onwards towards Spiti is a motorist’s nightmare as the road remains closed at one place or another most of the time.
The Kunzum Pass is still closed for traffic owing to ongoing snow-clearing operations.
Traditionally, in the Lok Sabha polls, the electorate here favours the party at the helm in the state. These elections are being seen as a referendum on Himachal Pradesh’s 16-month-old Congress government.
The Congress wrested the state from the BJP in December 2022, winning 40 seats in the 68-member Assembly, reducing the BJP to 25.
Besides the Mandi seat, which includes Kullu, Mandi and some areas of Chamba and Shimla districts, the tribal-dominated Kinnaur and Lahaul and Spiti, the other three parliamentary constituencies are Shimla (Reserved), Kangra and Hamirpur.
The bypoll to six Assembly seats, which fell vacant after the disqualification of Congress MLAs, would be held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha polls on June 1.
The bye-elections will be held in Dharamsala, Sujanpur, Lahaul-Spiti, Barsar, Gagret and Kutlehar seats.
