Munish Sood
MANDI:
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has found a new political weapon — and he’s firing it relentlessly. His sharp “five factions” remark against the BJP has now evolved into a full-fledged campaign strategy, one that could define the tone of the next Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections.
What began as a passing jibe in Mandi has now turned into Sukhu’s central narrative — a punchline meant to paint the BJP as a party split down the middle, torn by ambition and internal rivalry.
During his recent visit to Mandi, Sukhu, while presiding over a flood relief distribution event, transformed a government programme into a political battlefield. In his fiery speech, he named the “five factions” allegedly operating within the BJP, declaring that “the saffron party is no longer a political organisation, but a divided house led by five competing power centres”.
He didn’t mince words: “Today’s BJP is not one party — it’s a coalition of five camps led by Jai Ram Thakur, Anurag Thakur, JP Nadda, Ramesh Dhawala and a group of ex-Congress leaders who sold themselves for power”. The crowd responded with loud cheers as Sukhu accused the BJP of “falling apart under the weight of its own ambitions”.
From jibe to election strategy
Sukhu repeated the “five factions” claim in Shimla the very next day during a press interaction, making it clear that this was no offhand comment but a deliberate narrative. “The BJP will now forever remember five words — its five factions,” he said with a smirk, signalling that this line could become the Congress’s most aggressive campaign slogan going into 2027.
Political observers believe Sukhu’s move is strategic. By projecting the BJP as fragmented and unstable, he’s attempting to shift the election discourse from governance criticism to opposition chaos, a classic pre-poll inversion.
Says power struggle has reached boiling point
Sukhu didn’t stop at rhetoric. He painted a vivid picture of the BJP’s internal war for control. “Anurag Thakur gets slogans raised for his chief ministership in Mandi, while Jai Ram Thakur rushes to Hamirpur to show his strength,” Sukhu said mockingly. “The party is now ruled by the sold-out faction — and Jai Ram has aligned with it because his own people have deserted him.”
He also hinted that factional resentment within the BJP is deep and personal. “When slogans for Anurag as CM echoed in Mandi, Jai Ram was so upset that he left for Hamirpur and held two rallies within five days,” he said, adding that the “infighting is no longer a secret — it’s a public spectacle”.
Sukhu: Jai Ram looks stressed, BJP looks lost
In perhaps his most direct attack yet, Sukhu targeted former Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, calling him “visibly stressed” and “politically unsettled”.
“His frustration is showing,” Sukhu said. “Every day, he makes a new statement — and it clearly reflects the pressure he’s under. He’s tense because he knows the party he led is now crumbling from within.”
Defending his own government, Sukhu said it was divine grace, not political arithmetic, that kept Congress in power despite BJP’s repeated attempts to topple it. “We are in power by the blessings of the deities,” he declared. “The BJP, with its nine defectors, made every possible effort to dislodge us, but the people’s faith and divine will saved our government.”
With Sukhu’s “five factions” narrative now gaining traction, Congress insiders say it could become the central theme of the next Assembly election campaign — a mirror image of BJP’s past tactics that focused on corruption and instability within Congress.
By flipping the script, Sukhu aims to portray the BJP as a house divided — a party where power, not ideology, binds leaders. “This isn’t just a slogan,” said a senior Congress strategist, “it’s Sukhu’s psychological strike — to make the BJP fight itself before it fights us.”
As Himachal politics heats up again, the Chief Minister’s “five factions” punchline may soon echo across rallies, press conferences, and social media battles. Sukhu seems ready to turn a mocking phrase into an election-winning mantra — one calculated to hit where it hurts the BJP the most: unity.
