Jammu, February 18
The election campaign here has become feverish with just one day left for electioneering while the National Conference candidate, Mr Talib Hussain, banks on the charisma of Dr Farooq Abdullah and his son Mr Omar Abdullah, the BJP and the Congress candidate have sent a caravan of ministers and former ministers from Delhi in this constituency for mustering voters’ support.
During the past two days, three Union Ministers, Mr Arun Jaitly, Prof Chaman Lal Gupta and Mr Omar Abdullah have been moving from one corner of the constituency to the other conveying to the voters the good deeds their parties have done and the sins their rivals have committed.
Other leaders engaged in campaigning include Dr Manmohan Singh, a former Congress minister, Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad, AICC General Secretary, Mr Satyajit Gaekward and Mr Sat Mahajan of the Congress, and Mr O.P. Kohli from the BJP.
The PDP is banking upon Mufti Sayeed and his daughter Ms Mehbooba Mufti. The BSP candidate, Sheikh Abdul Rehman is depending on the party supremo, Mr Kanshi Ram, who has been in Jammu for the past three days.
The three-week poll campaign in this constituency threw up a peculiar political scenario. While the national leaders of the BJP, except Prof Chaman Lal Gupta, Union Minister for Food Processing and who belongs to Jammu, targeted the Congress more than the National Conference, the National Conference leaders, especially Dr Abdullah and Mr Omar Abdullah, attacked the Congress more vehemently than the BJP. They concentrated on Pakistan’s nefarious role in Jammu and Kashmir instead of indulging in mud-slinging.
Against this the Congress attack was severe on both the National Conference and the BJP. Right from Mr Sat Mahajan to Dr Manmohan Singh Congress leaders accused both the BJP and the National Conference of the ills that have surfaced in Jammu and Kashmir for the past several years.
Dr Manmohan Singh blamed the National Conference for having brought forward the Resettlement Act which according to him could result in communal polarisation in the state. Lambasting the BJP he said top militants arrested in Jammu and Kashmir during the Congress regime in the Centre were let off during the BJP-led NDA government. He said both the BJP and the National Conference leaders played with the sentiments of the people.
However, Mr Arun Jaitly said the Kashmir problem had been the result of blunders committed by the successive Congress governments at the Centre. He said it was under the BJP rule that instead of Kashmir it was cross-border terrorism that was being discussed in the international fora. His stand was supported by Mr Kohli and Professor Gupta.
What seems to have leant dignity to the pre-poll campaign launched by Dr Abdullah and Mr Omar Abdullah is that the two have not been trying to pull out skeletons out of the cupboards of the BJP and the Congress. They have been primarily focussing on the role Pakistan played in which the state remained on fire for the past 12 years. Yes, whenever the occasion has demanded Dr Abdullah has been very harsh while criticising Mufti Mohammad Sayeed whom he considers his main political enemy.
Interestingly, Mr Mufti vent his spleen only on the National Conference and its leader Dr Abdullah. He had gone to the extent of saying the Kashmir problem “is the creation of the National Conference.” Mr Mufti has been almost silent on the BJP and less rhetoric about the Congress.
The contesting parties tried to exploit the problems of the border migrants and in this context the Congress remained in the forefront striking against the BJP and the National Conference blaming them for their failure to provide relief to the displaced families.
As the din of electioneering has reached its peak more central leaders of the BJP and the Congress are giving it a final shape during the next 24 hours.
Since the battlelines have been drawn among the BJP, the National Conference and the Congress candidates, despite 16 candidates in the field, majority of over 15 lakh voters have yet to make up their mind on the choice they would make on the polling day. Many voters interviewed said it was very difficult to make a choice. In the past two elections the BJP was favourite but dissensions and other factors in the BJP have forced voters to give a deep thought. However, general impression is that the BJP has an edge, however, small it may
be, over its rivals.
In
Videos(
