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| Brahmin vs Brahmin, Rajput vs Rajput | | PDP, Panthers to play key role in two Lok Sabha segments of Jammu | | ZAFAR CHOUDHARY
Jammu, March 21: With Congress and the Bhartiya Janta Party showing its cards for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections on two seats of Jammu province the battle is straight between the two parties but junior players in the region Peoples Democratic Party and the Panthers Party hold key to their success or failure.
Under the coalition arrangement the National Conference has opted out of the fray leaving field to the junior partner Congress. Though the Peoples Democratic Party on Jammu-Poonch seat and Panthers Party on Kathua-Doda seat are contesting with much seriousness but the contest is still straight between the Congress and the BJP.
Given the demographic structure of these constituencies and ideological base of at two parties involved, the PDP and the Panthers Party hold the key to changing fortunes. There is another interesting angle to the ensuing elections to these two constituencies. Looking at the straight contests, at Jammu-Poonch seat it is a direct row between two Brahmin candidates while on Kathua-Doda seat it is a clash between two Rajput candidates.
Besides party agenda, candidate’s reputation and local development issues, the cast factors have always been playing roles in elections and particularly much larger in the Lok Sabha elections. BJP candidate Leela Karan Sharma and Congress nominee Madan Lal Sharma are the two Brahmins on Jammu-Poonch seat while two Rajputs fact to face on Kathua-Doda seat are Chowdhary Lal Singh of Congress and Dr Nirmal Singh of the BJP. Kathua-Doda seat has couple of other Rajputs also who are expected to make the contest interesting. While Prof Bhim Singh of Panthers Party has already made his intentions clear to contest from there, the PDP is likely to give ticket to Thakur Balbir Singh who recently left Congress to join the party.
Rajouri-Poonch Lok Sabh seat is comprised of 21 assembly constituencies. Of these 21 seats, seven are with BJP, five with Congress, four are with NC, two with PDP and one seat has been won by an independent candidate. While NC-Congress are contesting in alliance, put together there are nine seats where coalition candidate Madan Lal Sharma expects an edge and on seven seats BJP races ahead. Interestingly, on Jammu-Poonch Lok Sabha constituency, the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party is all set to play a key role.
Though PDP has only two segments out of 21 but during assembly elections it secured more than 1.25 lakh votes across this Lok Sabha constituency. After assembly elections more than two dozen political personalities, including those who contested the assembly elections, joined PDP and now the party is expecting an enhanced vote share. Since Rajouri-Poonch is the area PDP has been able to establish a significant ideological base it is also the area where Congress expects a handsome chunk of votes in view of clearly expected division in Jammu and Samba districts. PDP strengthened position on this segment can prove disastrous for the Congress candidate.
In Kathua-Doda segment, both the Congress and the BJP candidates have a reason to worry about in presence of the PDP and Panthers Party candidates. Though the PDP could not win any assembly segment in this constituency but it secured a significant vote share in assembly elections and added many leaders in the party fold after assembly elections. This is likely to cut into the Congress vote bank. Panthers Party has won two assembly seats in Udhampur district which is also detrimental to the interests of the Congress. Coalition has hold on 11 out 17 assembly segments of Kathua-Doda seat but the contest is not quite safe. |
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