Shimla turned into a political flashpoint on Sunday, 1 November 2026, as the BJP mounted one of its most visible opposition offensives in Himachal Pradesh — a grand padyatra and public rally under the banner 'Loktatantra Bachao, Arajkata Hatao' ('Save Democracy, Remove Anarchy'). BJP MP Anurag Thakur joined thousands of workers and senior leaders in the state capital for the campaign that the party says is a direct challenge to the Congress-led Himachal government.

Thakur described the day as 'Devbhoomi ne bhari hunkar' — 'the land of the gods has roared' — framing the rally as a citizens' cry for the protection of democratic norms. The scale of the mobilisation was underscored by the roster of leaders who shared the dais.

Himanta Biswa Sarma leads the charge in Shimla

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma presided over the event — a calculated deployment that signals how seriously the BJP's national leadership is treating its opposition role in Himachal. Bringing the sitting chief minister of a BJP-ruled state to campaign inside a Congress-governed state is a well-worn tactic the party uses to nationalise local grievances and keep the spotlight on perceived governance failures.

Alongside Sarma stood Jai Ram Thakur, former Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh (2017–2022) and current Leader of Opposition in the state assembly — the man who would be the most likely BJP candidate for the top job if the party were to reclaim power. His presence gave the rally the weight of a government-in-waiting.

BJP's Himachal bench turns out in force

Dr. Rajeev Bindal, BJP's state president, Lok Sabha MP Suresh Kashyap, and Dr. Sikandar Kumar — the party's state general secretary and a Rajya Sabha MP — were also present, along with a wide cross-section of senior functionaries and grassroots workers. The combined presence of central-level MPs, a sitting state-level CM from another state, and the full state party machinery signals a coordinated, top-down push rather than a routine local event.

The 2027 assembly election shadow

The 'Loktatantra Bachao' campaign does not exist in a vacuum. Himachal Pradesh is headed to assembly elections in 2027, and the BJP — which governed the state from 2017 to 2022 — has been methodically building a narrative around Congress's governance record ever since it lost power. Deploying a high-profile padyatra through Shimla, the state capital and a symbolically rich political venue, is as much about shaping the pre-election mood as it is about any immediate policy demand. Every rally at this scale is also a dry run: testing mobilisation, messaging, and the appeal of the leadership lineup.

For Anurag Thakur, whose Lok Sabha constituency of Hamirpur sits in the same state, this is home turf with national amplification — and he clearly intends to use every inch of it before voters go to the booths.