BJP off the blocks, Congress lags behind in campaigning

While the BJP’s campaign in Jammu has already gained momentum ahead of the first phase of Assembly polls, senior leadership of the Congress is yet to come to the region.

The first phase of J&K Assembly elections will be held on September 18 where Doda, Kishtwar and Ramban of Jammu region, besides areas of Kashmir, will go for polling.

Top BJP leaders, including Union Minister for Home Affairs Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, have already visited parts of the Jammu region. Shah and Modi will again visit the UT in the coming weeks for the second and third phase of the polls.

On the other hand, only senior Congress leader, Rahul Gandhi, Leader of the Opposition, visited the far-off area of Gool in Ramban.

The BJP has put massive stake on the campaigning of its leaders, especially in Hindu-dominated Jammu region. The party is leaving no stone unturned to replicate its magic of 2014 where it was able to bag 25 seats – a historic number which the saffron party had never achieved in J&K. There were 87 seats in the erstwhile state, including Ladakh, which after delimitation stands at 90.

However, seats in the Jammu region have now increased from 37 to 43, which is being seen as an opportunity by the BJP.

While the local leadership and candidates of the Congress are working day and night to make a mark this time, absence of their senior leaders is causing frustration among the cadre. The Congress had released a list of star campaigners, including party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, former party chief Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, senior leader Priyanka Gandhi, Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and his deputy Mukesh Agnihotri among others. It has been reliably learnt that Sonia Gandhi is not likely to visit J&K.

While Kharge visited Anantnag in Kashmir, other leaders are yet to come to Jammu. The BJP, in its high-pitched campaign, has been able to create a perception that the NC and Congress want to bring back Article 370. The manifesto of NC promised restoration of Article 370. However the Congress leadership has so far ricocheted questions raised by BJP over the promise of their alliance partner.

While the focus of Valley-based parties, including PDP and NC, is mostly in the Kashmir region, the BJP and the Congress are main contenders in most parts of the Jammu region.