Chopal – Putting an end to speculation and exposing growing factionalism within the BJP, three-time Chopal MLA and senior party leader Balbir Singh Verma has made it clear that he will contest the 2027 Assembly elections from Chopal alone. His public clarification has underlined internal fault lines in the party, particularly in Shimla district, where the BJP is already struggling politically.
For weeks, social media posts and selective news reports had claimed that the BJP leadership was considering shifting Verma to Shimla Urban or Kasumpati in the next Assembly elections. Addressing party workers at Nerwa, Verma dismissed these rumours outright and said there was no question of leaving Chopal. The statement was seen as a direct response to internal lobbying and power struggles within the party.
Verma’s assertion carries political weight. He first won the Chopal seat in 2012 as an Independent candidate, when even the BJP candidate failed to save his security deposit. He joined the BJP later and went on to win the Assembly elections in 2017 and 2022 on the party’s ticket. Before Verma’s rise, the BJP last won the Chopal seat in 1990, when Radha Raman Shastri was elected. After that, the constituency remained either with the Congress or the Independents.
In the 2022 Assembly elections, when the BJP suffered a crushing defeat in Shimla district, Chopal stood out as the lone seat retained by the party. Congress candidates swept seven of the eight Assembly segments in the district, exposing the BJP’s weak organisational base. Verma managed to hold Chopal, a traditional Congress stronghold, at a time when the party was being decimated elsewhere.
Despite this, instead of consolidating around its only winning face in the district, the BJP appears divided. The speculation about shifting Verma has revealed internal insecurity and factional politics, giving rivals ample ammunition. Party insiders say the rumours were not accidental but a reflection of internal power centres trying to redraw political equations ahead of 2027.
At a time when the BJP is out of power in Himachal Pradesh and has little presence in Shimla district, the public surfacing of internal rifts sends a damaging message. Verma’s clarification has not just ended rumours, it has also exposed how internal discord is weakening the party further, even in constituencies it managed to save against the Congress wave.
With the 2027 elections still some distance away, the episode signals early trouble for the BJP. If factionalism continues to dominate strategy, the party risks losing even the few bastions it currently holds, while handing the Congress an advantage without a fight.
