New Delhi: Days ahead of the Himachal Pradesh assembly elections, leaders of both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress are leaving no stone unturned to appeal to the religious sentiments of the majority community.While the Congress leaders have been visiting temples in the state ahead of the rallies, BJP leaders have been linking the elections with issues like security, safety and Hindu pride.Since 1985, when Congress leader Virbhadra Singh returned as chief minister, no party in power has managed to win the election in the state.In 2017, the BJP won 44 seats in the assembly elections. The Congress had then won 21 seats while three had gone to independents.The government is currently led by Jairam Thakur.This time, the Congress has announced a list of 40 star campaigners for the state, including leaders such as Priyanka Gandhi-Vadra, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Ashok Gehlot, and Mallikarjun Kharge.Gandhi-Vadra has been spearheading the campaign in the state, along with party leader and Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel, who is also one of the star campaigners for the upcoming polls.Incidentally, Baghel belongs to the Rajput community which has over the decades dominated the politics in Himachal Pradesh.Senior leaders like Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and recently elected Congress president Kharge have not been able to campaign in the state for the polls. However, both Rahul and Kharge are expected to hit the road in the last leg of the campaign.However, the Aam Aadmi Party, which will be contesting on all 68-seats in the state, appears to have been focusing more on the Gujarat elections.Also read: Himachal Pradesh Voters Have Said They’re Concerned About Unemployment. Here’s Why.Several visits to temples ahead of ralliesBefore addressing their rallies, both Gandhi-Vadra and Baghel have been regularly visiting temples in various districts in the poll-bound state.Last month, Gandhi-Vadra visited the Shoolini Temple in Solan. On October 31, she visited the Bhootnath Temple in Mandi.On November 4, she, along with Baghel, visited the Jwala Devi temple in Kangra.Incidentally, Baghel is a leader who appears to have understood the importance of not giving the BJP a cakewalk in the matter of owning Hindu symbols.In Chhattisgarh, he seemed to have mixed religion with culture by introducing initiatives such as installing statues of ‘Chhattisgarh Mahatari (mother)’ – a local deity – in all 33 district headquarters of the state.However, the Congress appears to have realised that in Himachal Pradesh, too, it cannot allow the BJP to walk away as the sole claimant of symbols of Hinduism ahead of the polls.Kangra: AICC General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra addresses during a public meeting ahead of Himachal Pradesh assembly polls, in Kangra district, November 4, 2022. Photo: PTI‘Double-engine’ poll plankGandhi-Vadra has, however, not allowed herself to be drawn into the religious discourse during her political rallies. She has been direct in her criticism of the BJP government, both at the state level and at the Centre.She claimed that the BJP government has put the state under a debt of Rs 70,000 crore, adding that the government has not provided its staff Diwali bonus. She also claimed that 63,000 government posts are lying vacant in the state.She further said that if the Congress returns to power, it will restore the Old Pension Scheme.Also read: Himachal Polls: Why Are Congress, AAP Banking On Govt Employees to Corner Ruling BJP?She said that the BJP seeks votes in the name of a “double-engine” government, and asked where was this government for the last five years. “Perhaps the BJP didn’t gas up the engine as it was selling oil to its industrialist friends,” she said.Baghel, on the other hand, has been more forthcoming in his attacks on the Union government, and especially, Prime Minister Narendra Modi.He urged the voters of Himachal Pradesh to be aware of “jumlaveer” and “ghoshnaveer”, who have betrayed the nation through the Agnipath recruitment scheme and the imposition of higher taxes.‘Misgovernance, corruption’Meanwhile, senior Congress leader Sachin Pilot, while addressing a rally in Sulah on November 6, accused the BJP of “misgovernance” and “corruption”, adding that people will say “Jai Ram ji ki” –an expression commonly used in north India when seeing someone off – to the chief minister.“The work of the government is something people are unhappy with. There has been huge corruption, paper leaks, financial impropriety and misgovernance. Winds of change are blowing all over the state. That is why the prime minister and home minister have to come [to Himachal Pradesh] daily,” he said.“They would not have to come if their work had spoken for itself,” he added.For the BJP, several leaders like Prime Minister Modi, BJP national president J.P. Nadda, Union ministers Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh and Anurag Thakur, and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath have been addressing meetings across the hill state.Also read: What Does BJP’s Metaphor of ‘Double Engine Ki Sarkar’ Really Signify?‘A stable government essential for progress’While addressing a rally in Solan, Prime Minister Modi spoke about how essential it was for Himachal Pradesh to get a stable government. He said that only BJP could provide a stable government in the state as it did in Goa and Tripura.On November 5, Modi, in a rally at Sundernagar in Mandi district, the home district of chief minister Jairam Thakur, said how “every single vote on November 12 will define the state’s development journey for the next 25 years”.He also tweeted that the BJP’s Himachal Pradesh unit will be “going to the [homes of] people with a proven track record of development and highlighting the pro-people efforts of the double-engine government.”Prior to his rallies in Himachal Pradesh, Modi met the head of the Radha Saomi Satsang Beas dera in Punjab, Baba Gurinder Singh Dhillon.Ahead of the Punjab assembly elections in February this year, he had met the Dera head in New Delhi.The Dera has a large number of followers in North India, especially in states like Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana.The Ayodhya temple issue and concerns over ‘mafia’Separately, Yogi Adityanath has left no opportunity to link the polls to issues like security, safety and Hindu pride.Palampur: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Yogi Adityanath being felicitated during an election campaign rally in support of party candidate Trilok Kapoor ahead of Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections, in Palampur, Tuesday, November 8, 2022. Photo: PTIAt a recent rally in the Kangra district, he said that if the Congress is voted in, the dev bhoomi (holy land) may become a haven for the mafia fleeing from his state.“Our government is continuously running a campaign against the mafia in Uttar Pradesh. If a weak government led by Congress comes to power in Himachal Pradesh, the mafia fleeing from UP would come here to hide and destroy the piousness of this dev bhoomi,” he said.At another rally in Una on November 7, he asked if a Ram Temple in Ayodhya would have been possible if the Congress had been in power, although it was the Supreme Court which paved the way for a temple there.So, it seems the BJP has adopted a twin approach of some of its senior leaders talking about development and stability to woo voters, while others adopting a more divisive approach of using fear and insecurity while reaching out to the voters.