The three land-locked districts of Doda, Kishtwar and Ramban in Jammu region are gearing up for the tough electoral battle in the Phase I of 2014 Assembly polls in State.
Five out of six Assembly seats in the region are currently held by Congress legislators while one seat is occupied by MoS Home Sajjad Ahmad Kitchloo of the National Conference.Both PDP and BJP are labouring hard to make inroads in the Congress bastion as the region holds key to power for a party aiming to play pivotal role in the Government formation in Jammu & Kashmir.
To dislodge the ruling alliance and create wedge between them, the two main Opposition — PDP and BJP — are showcasing poor track record of the Cong-NC alliance in their public meetings to woo the electorate in their favour.On one hand the BJP is harping on the growth agenda of the party in the region and is seeking to reap rich dividends of pro-Modi wave while the PDP is hoping to cash in on the close contest between the alliance partners.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also expected to campaign in the region to galvanise party supporters for a decisive mandate in favour of BJP candidates. The State unit machinery is also concentrating in the region as they are hoping to win at least three Assembly seats riding high on the crest of pro-Modi wave.
The PDP has fielded a retired bureaucrat Sheikh Mehboob Iqbal from Bhaderwah Assembly seat to give tough fight to Mohd Sharief Niaz of the Congress. After winning the seat in 2002 Assembly polls, Niaz vacated the same for Ghulam Nabi Azad in 2006 after he became the Chief Minister.Niaz won the seat in 2009 by-elections after Azad vacated the same after moving to the Rajya Sabha in 2009.The BJP has given mandate to firebrand local party leader Daleep Singh Parihar to attract minority vote bank in its favour.
Kishtwar Assembly segment is also heading towards photo finish contest between Kitchloo and BJP’s Sunil Sharma. Though, MoS Home, Sajjad Ahmad Kitchloo was handed over clean chit by the Justice (Retd) RC Gandhi commission of Inquiry in its preliminary report on Kishtwar riots vertical polarisation between the two communities in the region may cast its shadow over the poll outcome.
The Congress has been fielding a weak candidate against Kitchloo, a close relative of Azad. Since 1987, Kitchloo and his father Bashir Ahmad Kitchloo won the seat without facing any tough challenge. But this time Sajjad faces an uphill task to retain his seat. The PDP has fielded young journalist Firdous Tak from the seat to defeat NC candidate in his stronghold.
Compared to the 2008 Assembly polls, the BJP has gradually consolidated its vote bank in the region.Voting pattern in the lok Sabha polls clearly show a trend where the BJP has significantly improved its tally in terms of percentage vote share in the region.
BJP candidates are locked in straight fight with ruling alliance candidates on three Assembly seats of Bhaderwah, Kishtwar and Ramban. On the other hand, the Congress and the National Conference candidates are locked in straight contest on three seats of Inderwal, Doda and Banihal. Two Congress MlA’s Abdul Majeed Wani (Doda) and GM Saroori (Inderwal) are hoping to record hat-trick while Congress candidates in Ramban and Banihal are struggling to retain their seats.
From Banihal, sitting MlA, currently Mos Power Vikar Rasool Wani is facing challenge from Sajjad Shaheen of the National Conference while Ashok Kumar Bhagat of the Congress is facing tough challenge from BJP candidate Neelam langeh.
In the absence of any formal commitment from the top brass of the Congress, leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha and former Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad is leading the campaign while hard selling development agenda. Knowing well the region holds key to power for the congress party in the coming elections Azad is not even shying away from launching veiled attack on Chief Minister Omar Abdullah for ignoring the development of the region.
After losing the lok Sabha polls with a huge margin of 60,000 votes Azad is facing the daunting task of retaining all five seats in the region. Azad opted to keep himself out of the race, nut is playing the role of star campaigner of the party. PDP top brass is also campaigning aggressively in the region to open its account. PDP Chief Mehbooba Mufti in her public rallies in Doda district urged the voters to give PDP a chance to serve them as all other political parties have failed to develop the region.