In Udhampur, Azad battles hard against Modi wave

Srinagar: Mohan Lal Sharma, a grocery shop owner at Adarsh Colony in Udhampur district, 54 km from Jammu, the winter capital of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, is a happy man these days.

Sharma, a lean short man in his early fifties with trimmed mustache and jovial face says business is brisk and sales have gone high. His biggest selling stock these days are BJP flags, caps and Narendra Modi masks. The demand has only increased recently.

Last week on a single day Sharma sold more than 200 masks, he says, of BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi and days before the Udhampur-Doda Lok Sabha Constituency goes to polls, Sharma said he expects a boom in business as the entire Udhampur district remained wrapped in saffron flags and BJP posters.

“People are mad about these masks and they paste the BJP party flags on their cars. It is the popularity of Modi in Udhampur that could be the reason if the BJP candidate wins in the coming elections,” Sharma told Firstpost.

Udhampur-Dooda Lok Sabha constituency will go to polls on Thursday, 17 April. It is the most watched and carefully analysed constituency among the six seats in Jammu and Kashmir, as a former chief minister of the state fights a tough battle on his home turf.

Congress stalwart Ghulam Nabi Azad, 65, is fighting his maiden Lok Sabha election from Jammu and Kashmir. Azad, who fought his first Lok Sabha election in 1980 from Washim in Maharashtra, is pitched against the national spokesperson of BJP, Jitender Singh, besides 12 others candidates. The fight is triangular between one regional party PDP and two national parties Congress and BJP. The crises manager of Congress party, however, is facing a crises in his home turf.

“But the results could surprise everyone. No one knows or is sure who could win despite Azad’s stature. Azad is the ‘son of the soil’, while Jitender Singh of BJP is riding on Modi wave. It is divided house. Muslims of Chinab would like to see Azad but majority of Hindus from Udhampur and Kathua would prefer BJP to win,” Anil Agnihotri, a sociology teacher in a local government college told Firstpost.

Azad emerged as a concessional candidate between ruling National Conference and its ally Congress. Many were surprised when he was asked by the party high command to contest from the seat, this despite a stiff opposition from workers of two times sitting MP Chaudhary Lal Singh of Congress.

“The BJP was targeting Chaudhary Lal Singh for his failures, Azad’s entry changed the discourse. This is the one seat which BJP could have won easily if Azad was not fighting,” Agnihotri said.

The Udhampur constituency has 17 assembly segments with 1.41 million voters and is spread over six districts of Kathua, Doda, Ramban, Reasi, Udhampur and Kishtwar in the Jammu region.

Azad’s focus, however, has not been the Muslim dominated areas but Hindu majority areas of Udhampur-Kathua, while banking on the development projects conceived during his chief ministership. Party insiders say he would be able to get majority votes from Muslim dominated areas of Doda-Kishtwar-Ramban and Reasi.

Udhampur is the second largest city after Jammu in region. Majority of the voters are Hindus followed by the Muslims, but the voters seemed to be divided this time on communal lines. Despite Azad being an acceptable leader between both the communities, the challenge to win the seat is not easy and the BJP aggressive camping has only raised doubts.

Rebel BJP leader Chaman Lal Gupta, who won this seat thrice, has fielded his son Anil Gupta in an attempt to divide the Hindu votes and ruin the chances of the BJP.

What could give Azad a slight edge over his rivals is his acceptability among both the communities. While both the communities are divided over the voting, the Kishtwar communal riots have only sharpened that divide. Three districts of Kishtwar, Ramban and Doda, also known as Chenab Valley region, are believed to be Azad’s political stronghold. The National Conference support to Azad could only provide an edge. Azad belongs to Bhellessa village of Kishtwar district. The other three districts in the constituency are Udhampur, Reasi and Kathua.

In Udhampur district the BJP has been prioritising in its campaign on the issues of development, anti-incumbency, price rise, unemployment, to generate voter support. Although the competition is neck-neck no one would have imagine a politician of Azad’s stature would face such a tough competition.