Congress leaders face uncertain future after election setback

With the Congress winning only one seat in the Jammu region, questions were being raised on the leadership of two senior Congressmen who have not been able to win successive Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in the past.

Working president of J&K Congress Raman Bhalla and senior party leader Choudhary Lal Singh have not been able to win the last three to four elections held in J&K. While Bhalla has not won any election since 2014, Lal Singh has been facing defeat in polls since 2019.

Bhalla contested 2014 Assembly polls from Gandhi Nagar constituency and was defeated by BJP candidate Kevinder Gupta. He later contested 2019 Lok Sabha polls from Jammu seat and was defeated by BJP candidate Jugal Kishore Sharma who again defeated Bhalla in 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

In a major embarrassment, Bhalla contested from RS Pura- Jammu South constituency in recently conducted Assembly polls but again faced defeat from BJP candidate Narinder Singh Raina.

Insiders have informed that the party was now planning to bring young leaders of the party, especially in Jammu, to the forefront to deal with the crisis being faced by the party. The party won only one of the 43 seats in Jammu division.

Choudhary Lal Singh who is another senior leader who rejoined Congress in March this year faced defeat in Lok Sabha polls (2024) at the hands of seasoned BJP politician and Union Minister Jitendra Singh. Lal Singh had contested 2019 Lok Sabha polls from his own party Dogra Swabhiman Sangathan Party (DSSP) and had faced defeat from Jitendra Singh even then.