| Congress, BJP alienated Jammu to appease Kashmir | | Congress' vote-share down by 21%, BJP's by 51% | | Early Times Report
Jammu, Oct 27: The just-held ULB elections in Jammu provide an opportunity to both the BJP and the Congress leadership to sit up, retrospect and find why the people of Jammu City, the hub of all activities and the original capital of Jammu & Kashmir state, are feeling alienated from them. The poll results for both the parties must be a cause of worry.
Of course, the BJP created a history in Jammu City by winning 43 of the 75 wards which constitute the prestigious Jammu Municipal Corporation, but in terms of votes, the BJP lost its face. It's clear that the BJP won the Jammu Municipal Corporation by default. Hence, there is no real reason for the BJP to indulge in drum beating in the manner it has been beating since October 20, when results were announced.
Both the Congress, which ruled the roost for decades, and the BJP, which became a force to reckon with only in 2014 in the real sense of the term, suffered huge losses in the just-held ULB polls in Jammu city. The Congress' vote-share fell by 21 per cent in Jammu city consisting of three assembly segments of Jammu East, Jammu West and Gandhinagar, while the BJP's fell by a whopping 51 percent.
In other words, the BJP suffered more as compared to the Congress, notwithstanding the fact that the BJP won 43 wards and the Congress only 14. The remaining 18 seats were captured by as many as 18 seats and this happened for the first time.
It bears recalling that in the 2014 Assembly elections, the Congress had got 67,981 votes in Jammu city. But in the just-held polls, it could secure only 53,684 votes -- 14,297 less as against its tally in 2014. To be more precise, the Congress' vote share in Jammu City fell by 21 per cent.
The story of the BJP's performance is very interesting in the sense that it won 43 seats but lost 51 per cent of its support-base in the city. From Jammu East Assembly segment, the BJP had got 21,776 votes in the 2014. But in the ULB elections in October 2018, it could secure only 8,432 votes. Similarly, in the Jammu West Assembly constituency, the BJP had got 69,627 votes in 2014, but this time it could get only 34,013 votes. Indeed, a huge loss. Likewise, in the Gandhinagar Assembly constituency, the BJP had secured 56,679 votes, but it could get only 30,058 votes in the October ULB polls. The fact of the matter is that the BJP had got 1,48,081 votes in the 2014 Assembly elections and it could secure only 72,503 votes in the October 2018 polls, thus losing over 75,500 voters' support.
Why did the BJP and the Congress suffer such huge losses in Jammu? The only answer could be: Both the parties have turned Kashmir-centric and both have bartered Jammu's interests to please Kashmir and a particular section of society in Kashmir. |
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