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| Jammu East becomes tough constituency for BJP, Cong | | Candidate 'strength & selection' for Assembly polls | | ET Report
Jammu, June 28: Even as political parties have started finalizing candidates for various constituencies for the ensuing Assembly polls, BJP and Congress are still weighing options from amongst the probable contenders for many reasons, political furore unleashed recently by none other than the Chief Minister Omar Abdullah hitting sitting MLA of the constituency being one that has pushed latter and his party to edge. While Congress has too many contendors vying against each other to secure ticket and contest from Jammu East, BJP post recent developments is also looking for a 'substitute' which may be acceptable to the people of the constituency. Jammu East this time is going to prove a real battle ground for all parties as the mood of the voters is going to be determined by the image and profile of the candidate in fray.
Sources within the Congress say while all other constituencies in Jammu district as always remain crucial for the party in terms of having many contendors in race, it is becoming somewhat difficult for the leadership to make ultimate choice for Jammu East retained by BJP's Ashok Khajuria. While Congress' ex-MLA from the constituency Yogesh Sawhney is trying hard to get the mandate for coming polls, Jammu Bar Association's ex president BS Salathia is also in line for a long time to secure ticket, courtesy his proximity with Ghulam Nabi Azad which is the 'eligibility' on political grounds for him to be a contendor. Also in the race is Vikram Malhotra, son of Chairman Legislative Council Amrit Malhotra and therefore having 'justified' eligibility to get the ticket and contest polls. All the three are utilizing best efforts and channels to get the ticket, yet things are undecided and unclear for this constituency, sources said.
As for PDP, it has already announced its candidate Bharat Choudhary, an influential business who is associated with the party for alongtime. Notwithstanding his long association with the party, he has yet to groom and nourish the party at the grass root level in order to make a strong base before he could go to voters. With party's strong support at the back and resources at his own end, all he needs to expedite activities in right earnest, given the fact that real contest has always remained between BJP and Congress on this constituency. However, as for BJP which managed to win this seat in 2008 easily, things are not easy this time for more than one reason. Sources say even much before Omar Abdullah's revelations which stirred stagnant waters of this constituency to the hilt, Khajuria's popularity graph was on decline. During the entire tenure as MLA he inadvertently and inadvertently faltered on ever corrosive political course where small things matter to voters and people in general. Aware and educated as the people of this prestigious Jammu city constituency are, every small or big act in terms of initiating development works or choosing the beneficiaries on certain lines and many other things remained under their scanner all these years. This made his popularity graph tumble gradually. Sources within the party say his stakes for repeat as candidates stand slim, yet nothing can be ruled out at this stage when the leadership is weighing options with other contenders like Yudhvir Sethi in line.
While both the parties are taking time in making a final choice as candidates, the key to success for any remains profile and acceptability among the masses of this constituency- one who dedicates himself to development of the old city in real manner. |
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