The Bharatiya Janta Party is fully geared up to defend its ‘impregnable citadel’ in the last and crucial phase of maiden assembly polls in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
In the third phase polling is scheduled to take place across 40 Assembly segments. Out of these 40, 24 seats fall in the Jammu region.
In the 2014 Assembly polls, BJP won 19 out of 21 Assembly segments from the four districts of Jammu, Kathua, Samba, and Udhampur.
This time three new seats have been added, one each in Kathua, Samba, and Udhampur during the Delimitation of Assembly constituencies.
BJP’s performance in this phase is going to make or break the chances of government formation on its strength.
The Union Home Minister Amit Shah Thursday claimed that the Congress-NC alliance has been wiped out in the first two phases of the Jammu and Kashmir elections.
He also hit out at Omar Abdullah for contesting two Assembly seats out of fear. On Rahul Gandhi’s claim to restore statehood in J&K if his party wins, Amit Shah responded that it can only be done when “BJP wants”.
Leaving no stone unturned, the top brass of the party has already started carpet bombing across different Assembly constituencies of Jammu, Samba, Kathua, and Udhampur districts.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to address a mega rally here in MAM sports stadium on September 28 ahead of winding up the month-long high-octane campaign.
On Thursday Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath addressed eight rallies covering all four districts of the Jammu region. Other star campaigners of the party including Smriti Irani, Union Ministers Shivraj Singh Chouhan, and Nitin Gadkari have addressed a series of meetings in Jammu.
Both the leaders while targeting the opposition parties Congress, National Conference, and the Peoples Democratic Party appealed to the voters to give a decisive mandate to the BJP candidates to ensure the formation of a stable government that can carry forward the growth-oriented agenda of the Union government at the helm of affairs.
Addressing a rally in the border belt of Ramgarh Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath Thursday said, “After BJP’s return (to power) here, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir is also going to be a part of Jammu and Kashmir. And this is the commotion in Pakistan, they are struggling to save their democracy”. Comparing the situation in both countries the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister said, “On one side there is India and on the other side there is Pakistan, there is a shortage of food there, naturally, beggar Pakistan is not able to handle itself today. Pakistan-occupied Kashmir is raising its voice for separation from it.
It is saying that we also had the right to participate in the J&K elections...Balochistan is also saying that our chemistry does not match with Pakistan. Because Pakistan is the enemy of humanity, it is a cancer of humanity. The world must be freed from this cancer...”
He said that the ongoing Assembly polls in J&K are historic and the “results will be a slap on the faces of NC, PDP and Congress.
He said Pakistan’s condition at present is horrific. “The country is falling apart. On the contrary, Prime Minister Narendra Modi gives 80 Crore people of India a free ration and 60 Crore are getting free treatment up to Rs 5 lakh which has been enhanced up to Rs 7 lakh.
“Pakistan is a sinking ship,” he said. Yogi also addressed two other election meetings in RS Pura and Chhamb.
