Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a host of top-ranking BJP leaders would campaign for the party candidates in all three regions of Jammu & Kashmir. The party is intending to hold at least one rally in Srinagar where polls are scheduled in the last segment of five-phased elections.
“The rally dates have not been finalised but it is decided that Prime Minister is going to address rallies in Srinagar, Jammu and ladakh,” BJP spokesman Khalid Jehangir told The Pioneer.
The Assembly elections are beginning on November 25. The filing of nominations is underway for the first phase of polls. The BJP on Sunday released first list of 45 candidates. The party has announced to field candidates in all 87 segments.
Sources said that BJP president Amit Shah, on instructions from Modi, is in constant touch with the party leadership in the State to finalise logistics for the upcoming rallies. Sources said that Defence Minister Arun Jaitley and BJP vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi is holding rallies in Jammu and Kargil.
Senior State leader and Minister of State in the PMO Jatendra Singh has made several visits to Srinagar and Jammu during the past four weeks to do ground work on finalisation of mandates and possibilities of mobilisation for the rallies.
It is for the first time in the electoral history of J&K that BJP is entering into fray with eyes on formation of government. The BJP leaders say that they will win more than 44 seats to form a Government.
However, analysts say that even as the party is a major factor in the elections, its area of influence is limited to a few segments in Jammu region. In ladakh, the BJP can give a tough competition to Congress but its candidates have meagre sway on the electorate in Kashmir Valley.