Kunal Shrivatsa
JAMMU, Mar 23: In a bid to revive its fortunes in Jammu-Poonch parliamentary constituency, the state wing of the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) is desperately looking up to the charisma of Narendra Modi, which has undoubtedly cast a spell across the country.
The saffron party which represented the prestigious seat in 1998 and 1999 had to face drubbing at the hands of Congress in general elections of 2004 and 2009.
After the demise of BJP's two-time winner Vaid Vishno Dutt Sharma, the party lost the seat first to National Conference in Bye-poll of 2002 and subsequently to Congress in general elections held in 2004 and again in 2009.
But the million dollar question remains that can BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi's aura comes handy for the party nominee Jugal Kishore Sharma, the state party chief and the sitting legislator from Nagrota assembly constituency, who is trying his luck as a contesting candidate for a Lok Sabha seat for the first time.
Jugal Kishore is pitted against the sitting Congress MP Madan Lal Sharma, who is seeking re-election for the third time with the support of alliance partner National Conference.
Traditionally, a strong hold of Congress, the party won the seat for record eight times. It won the seat in 1971, 1980, 1984, 1989, 1996, 2004 and 2009.
The NC won the seat only once when its candidate Chowdhary Talib Hussain wresting it from BJP in a by-eelection in 2002 while an independent, Thakur Baldev won the seat in 1977.
However, with the changed political equations, the rank and file of BJP is quite upbeat over the 'NaMo' factor and they feel that party's prospects bolstered after the successful of his 'Lalkaar Rally' held here on December 1 last in which a huge gathering flocked the MA Stadium.
Despite several other contestants in the fray including Peoples' Democratic Party's (PDP) Yashpal Sharma, the battle lines are clearly drawn between the Congress' Madan Lal Sharma and BJP's Jugal Kishore Sharma, who are fighting a battle of prestige for their respective aprties.
Experts observing the political of this constituency opine that even though the Congress has once again managed to stitch an alliance with the NC, the Modi factor could still play the game-changer if he is able to consolidate the Hindu votes in plains of Jammu region as well as twin border districts of Poonch and Rajouri. They observe that if Modi' appeal could also manage to cut a chunk of Muslim votes from Congress-NC alliance as well as the PDP then there would definitely be a smooth sailing for the BJP candidate. |
