Udhampur race heats up as Congress taps into Article 370 doubts

AFTER 15 YEARS, the Udhampur Lok Sabha seat in Jammu and Kashmir is headed for a keen contest, with prominent leaders in the fray from the BJP and Congress.

Both Jitendra Singh of the BJP, a Union Minister of State, and Choudhary Lal Singh of the Congress are two-time MPS from the seat. While Jitendra Singh has won the seat the past two times (2014 and 2019) by big margins, it was won twice previously by Lal Singh (2004 and 2009).

Lal Singh, who last won Udhampur in 2009 against the BJP’S Nirmal Kumar Singh by 13,394 votes, was not in the race in 2014 and 2019. The Congress’ 2014 candidate, former CM Ghulam Nabi Azad, lost to Jitendra Singh by over 60,000 votes, and its 2019 nominee Vikramaditya Singh, a scion of the erstwhile J&K royal family by 3.57-plus lakh votes.

Neither Azad nor Vikramaditya is with the Congress now.

The Udhampur Lok Sabha seat, which votes in the first phase on April 19. has an over 16.23 lakh electorate, with a sizeable 30-35% of the population Muslim.

There are a total 12 candidates in the fray, including G M Saroori of Azad’s Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP).

Saroori is a former J&K minister and three-time MLA.

While the DPAP’S presence may cut into Congress votes, it will gain from the backing of its INDIA allies National Conference and Peoples Democratic Party.

Going by the presence of crowds at their rallies, the Congress and BJP seem evenly matched. Lal Singh is being received with slogans of “Babbar Sher Aya, Babar Sher Aya (the lion has come)”, even as Jitendra Singh’s star remains high as a two-time Union MOS, whose portfolios include the high-visibility PMO.

In his campaign speeches, the BJP leader talks about development works such as opening of medical colleges in Udhampur, setting up of “North India’s first bio tech park”, construction of the Atal Setu on the Ravi river connecting Kathua’s Basohli with Punjab as well as other bridges, the widening of the Jammu-srinagar National Highway that passes through Udhampur, and the widespread plantation of lavender, “bringing prosperity” to Doda – what he describes as a ‘Purple Revolution’.

Lal Singh’s main theme is attack on the BJP for its “divisive and communal politics”. Ironically, Lal Singh had to step down as a minister in the last J&K government – a coalition ministry of the BJP and PDP – over the communal stance he took on the Kathua gangrape and murder case. He is currently out on bail in a money laundering case registered by the Enforcement Directorate.

In his speeches, Lal Singh refers to the abrogation of Article 370, and accuses the Modi government of taking away J&K’S “identity” and exploiting its people. “

Lal Singh also mentions the cancellation of land mutations of local people who had been cultivating State-owned plots in the border areas of Kathua district for generations.