Rustam
JAMMU, Sept 15: The BJP Parliamentary Board on September 13 named Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as the party's Prime Ministerial candidate for the upcoming general election. His nomination for the top executive job has electrified the situation across the nation, including two regions of Jammu & Kashmir, Jammu & Ladakh. Some political pundits have asserted that the BJP this time could win three Lok Sabha seats, two in Jammu province and one in Ladakh. The people of Jammu and Ladakh return to the Lok Sabha two seats and one seat, respectively.
The prediction of Jammu & Kashmir watchers and political pundits is based on three facts. One, the ruling coalition in Jammu & Kashmir, like the Congress-led UPA Government at the Centre, has become thoroughly unpopular. The view that the state government has become unpopular cannot be dismissed. For, it is based on solid facts and the prevailing situation across the state does indicate that a vast majority of the people in the state has turned against the ruling coalition.
Two, Jammu and Ladakh are part of the national mainstream. Whatever happens in rest of the country impacts these two regions as well. Besides, the outlook of the people of these two regions is cosmopolitan. They, unlike the Kashmiri leadership, believe in democratic and secular ethos and have always struggled to achieve complete integration into India. It is hardly necessary to reflect on this point as everyone in the state and outside knows that Jammu and Ladakh house highly intensely pro-India population. It's no wonder that the nomination of Modi as the Prime Ministerial candidate has electrified the political scene in Jammu and Ladakh and raised the people's hopes.
Three, the BJP had won the Kathua-Udhampur-Doda Lok Sabha constituency three times in a row before Lal Singh of the Congress won this seat in 2004. Similarly, it was the BJP which represented Jammu-Poonch Lok Sabha constituency two times in a row before Madan Lal Sharma of the Congress won this seat in 2004. As for Ladakh, senior BJP leader and Thupstan Chhewang, he had also represented the Ladakh constituency in the Lok Sabha. He is a popular leader and an active politician.
These three realities plus the very important Modi factor do speak for themselves and point to the fact that the BJP this time could spring a major surprise by capturing three out of six Lok Sabha seats in the state. Another factor that is working in favour of the BJP is the keen interest of party in-charge and MP Avinash Rai Khanna, who is visiting the state at regular intervals, touring different parts of the state and interacting with party workers. The fact is that the Modi factor has changed the political situation in the state. |
