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| Gruelling contest on cards in Billawar constituency | | | Kunal Shrivatsa/Sanjay Pathak
Early Times Report
JAMMU, Dec 9: The Billawar Assembly constituency of Kathua district, which witnessed one sided contest in the previous two elections, is all set for a gruelling contest this time around as the sitting MLA of Congress perhaps for the first time in his political career is facing a stiff challenge posed by the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP).
Congress candidate and sitting MLA from Billawar Assembly segment Dr Manohar Lal Sharma won the poll battles first as an independent in 2002 and then as Congress nominee in 2008 quite comfortably on both the occasions largely due to the presence of weak opponents in the election arena.
However, with a changed political scenario in the state and a strong candidate in the form of Dr Nirmal Singh of BJP, the Congress candidate Dr Manohar Lal Sharma has to undergo a herculean task to hold his fort for the third time in succession.
According to political analysts, though BJP's graph is on the rise after the recently held parliamentary elections and fielding a seasoned leader like Dr Nirmal Singh, the Congress candidate Dr Sharma is still a force to reckon with in Billawar due to his strong clout among Muslims, Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) who are a deciding factor in the final outcome.
"No doubt in the current elections, the BJP has made strong inroads in several Assembly constituencies of Jammu region and Billawar is no exception either… Here, Dr Manohar Lal is facing a stiff opposition from Dr Nirmal Singh of BJP who is banking heavily on Modi charisma which has so far swayed voters across the nation since the Lok Sabha polls…Dr Manohar on the other hand has pinned hopes on Muslims, SCs and STs who are traditional supporters of Congress," they added.
The political experts further opined that the situation has definitely changed drastically since 2008 as the BJP has enlarged its base in Billawar which was quite visible in Lok Sabha polls wherein Congress conceded a big lead to BJP, however, Dr Manohar Lal's track record suggests that his support remained almost static in the last two Assembly polls though his victory margin dipped in 2008.
"One must remember the 2002 Assembly polls when Dr Manohar fought elections as an independent…At that point of time, sitting Congress MLA was a political novice but inspite of lack of political backing he with his mass appeal single handedly turned the tables on the then Congress MLA Balbir Singh," said political analysts.
"Dr Sharma again showed his mastery to outclass others in 2008 Assembly elections when he successfully defended his seat even as BJP was riding high on Amarnath land row wave in almost the entire Jammu province," they added.
In the Assembly elections of 2002, Dr Sharma, who contested as an independent, polled 24,736 votes and won by a huge margin of 14,561 votes over his nearest rival Balbir Singh of Congress, who managed to bag only 10,175 votes.
After formally joining the Congress, Dr Sharma contested the 2008 Assembly elections as Congress candidate and again managed to pull off a comfortable victory by countering BJP wave generated through two-month long Amarnath land agitation in various parts of Jammu region. Dr Sharma polled 22,262 votes and trounced his nearest rival Satish Sharma of BJP with a handsome margin of 8,383 votes. BJP candidate could garner only 13,879 votes in 2008 Assembly polls.
With Dr Nirmal Singh posing a stiff competition, Dr Manohar is leaving no stone unturned in reaching out to each and every voter personally and for the purpose he is holding door to door campaign. "Dr Sharma is concentrating on mass contact programmes rather than holding public meetings or election rallies…He is trying to visit each and every Panchayat, Village and Mohra as he knows the importance of one to one meeting with the voters," sources told Early Times.
As many as 8 candidates are in fray from Billawar Assembly constituency which is going to polls in the 5th and final phase on December 20. The constituency has 95,728 electors including 51,755 male and 43,973 female voters. |
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