Entry of Choudhary Lal Singh sets up an interesting contest in Udhampur
The lastminute entry of Choudhary Lal Singh into the Congress has set the stage for a close contest in the Udhampur seat in Jammu and Kashmir between him and Union Minister Jitendra Singh.
Mr. Lal Singh, a Dogra Rajput who founded the Dogra Swabhiman Sangathan Party in 2018 to protect Jammu’s indigenous identity, has been a twotime Congress MP from Udhampur in the past.
Repeatedly questioned and arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) last year in an alleged money laundering case, Mr. Lal Singh filed his nomination this week, just six days after rejoining the Congress in New Delhi on March 20.
He is an advocate for the restoration of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, especially job and land security, in the form of Article 371. In 2014, he quit the Congress and joined the BJP to become a Cabinet Minister, only to resign in 2018 over the Kathua rapecummurder case controversy.
Mr. Jitendra Singh, who rode high on the ‘Modi wave’ in 2019, has an uphill task to repeat the dominating figures of the previous election when he bagged 7.24 lakh votes against 3.67 lakh votes by the runnerup from the Congress.
Reorientation of Jammu and Kashmir’s polity after the abrogation of provisions of Article 370 has thrown up new factors in the electoral process in the Union Territory. The factor favouring Mr. Lal Singh is the fading away of the National Panthers Party from the political landscape of
Jammu, especially after the death of its supremo Bhim Singh in 2022.
No major regional party is fielding candidates from Udhampur in a bid to consolidate Muslim and secular votes in favour of the Congress candidate. However, former Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad’s Democratic Progressive Azad Party has decided to field G.M. Saroori, a former Minister with a support base in the Muslimdominated Doda and Kishtwar.
The factor favouring Mr. Jitendra Singh is the growing consolidation of Hindu votes, reflected in the events organised ahead of the inauguration of Ram Temple in Ayodhya. However, the BJP has to face a major test of growing alienation in Kathua and Udhampur over moves like scrapping the Roshni Act, which impacted farmers.