An almost month-long poll process in Jammu & Kashmir has finally entered in its slog overs where all the political parties are aiming to score maximum hits to further consolidate their final seat tally in the new State Assembly.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to address two last election meetings in Billawar and MAM stadium in Jammu on Tuesday to make the final push for BJP’s Mission 44 plus in the State. Rahul Gandhi, Congress vice-president, is expected to infuse new energy in the party cadre for the final round of decisive battle during his day-long visit in Jammu region.
Polling is due on 20 Assembly seats spread across three districts of Jammu, Kathua and Rajouri on December 20. Out of these 20 Assembly seats, the BJP had won 10, Congress five, NC two, PDP one, Independent two seats in 2008 Assembly polls.
This is the most crucial phase for the BJP as it is aiming to win majority seats in the final round to come closer to its target of 44 seats in the State. BJP’s grand success in the last round may make or mar its chances of getting in to the Government formation mode holding strings of power in is hands. It is the Congress which is facing the litmus test and struggling to contain the pro-Modi wave in Jammu region.
Till now the Congress has failed to capture the imagination of voters in the region as its leaders were repeating the old script of ending discrimination with Jammu region and presenting their report card of previous Government without clarifying why Congress failed to address these issues during 12-year-long stay in the corridors of power.
Top brass of two regional parties National Conference and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are also vying for their share in Jammu region but absence of cadre and ground support has restricted them to selected Assembly segments in Rajouri district. NC and PDP candidates are not in a position to alter the poll arithmetic on any seat in Jammu and Kathua district but their grip on voters in Rajouri district may decide the final outcome on four Assembly seats.
In the wake of smart choice of BJP candidates in Rajouri district both National Conference and PDP are struggling to retain their base in the area. The NC won two Assembly seats in 2008 and PDP secured one seat in the region. According to political observers, BJP is the front runner on three Assembly segments in Rajouri while the PDP is expected to retain its Darhal Assembly seat.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, focusing all its energies in the Kashmir Valley landed in Jammu on Monday to give some momentum to the otherwise lack luster campaign in the area.
PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti and party patron Mufti Mohd Sayeed also arrived here to address series of election meetings in support of their party candidates in Jammu and patted their own backs for their party’s perceived stupendous performance in the first four rounds of polling.
Ironically, Congress, which won five out of these 20 seats in 2008, is facing an uphill task to retain all these seats. Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand fighting Chhamb Assembly segment is struggling in his home constituency despite winning the seat for three consecutive terms since 1996. Senior Congress Minister Sham lal Sharma, who hogged headlines after making controversial remark over ‘Hindu CM from Jammu’ region is also laboring hard to secure his seat.
Another Congress Minister Raman Bhalla is fighting a tough battle of his political career against former BJP Mayor Kavinder Gupta. Gupta’s clean image and pro-Modi wave is helping him corner heavy weight Raman Bhalla in his strong bastion. Bhalla had won the seat at the peak of Amarnath agitation in 2008. Aggressive campaign by the BJP and huge investment by the organisation has frustrated Congress cadre in Jammu as they have not been getting adequate response from their party to run similar campaign.
The tone and tenor of election speeches of Ghulam Nabi Azad, chairman of the campaign committee, clearly indicate level of frustration in the rank and file of the party. Azad has been regularly trying to remind voters in Jammu how he fought against discrimination with Jammu region during his term in office. Ironically, last week when empty seats had greeted Congress president Sonia Gandhi in MAM stadium, he along with other senior leaders were left red-faced.