Udhampur heads for a keen race as Congress candidate unites ranks, taps into Article 370 doubts

Lal Singh, who last won Udhampur in 2009 against the BJP’s Nirmal Kumar Singh by 13,394 votes, was not in the race in 2014 and 2019. The Congress 2014 candidate, former CM Ghulam Nabi Azad, lost to Jitendra Singh by over 60,000 votes, and its 2019 mominee Vikramaditya Singh, a scion of the erstwhile J&K royal family by 3.57-plus lakh votes.

Neither Azad nor Vikramaditya is with the Congress now.

Spread over 16 Assembly segments across the five districts of Kathua, Udhampur, Doda, Kishtwar and Ramban in the Jammu province, the Udhampur Lok Sabha seat, which votes in the first phase on April 19. has an over 16.23 lakh electorate, with a sizeable 30-35% of the population Muslim.

There are a total 12 candidates in the fray, including G M Saroori of Azad’s Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP). Saroori is a former J&K minister and three-time MLA.

While the DPAP’s presence may cut into Congress votes, it will gain from the backing of its INDIA allies National Conference and Peoples Democratic Party.

Going by the presence of crowds at their rallies, the Congress and BJP seem evenly matched. Lal Singh is being received with slogans of “Babbar Sher Aya, Babar Sher Aya (the lion has come)”, even as Jitendra Singh’s star remains high as a two-time Union MoS, whose portfolios include the high-visibility PMO.

In his campaign speeches, the BJP leader talks about development works such as opening of medical colleges in Udhampur, setting up of “North India’s first bio tech park”, construction of the Atal Setu on the Ravi river connecting Kathua’s Basohli with Punjab as well as other bridges, the widening of the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway that passes through Udhampur, and the widespread plantation of lavender, “bringing prosperity” to Doda – what he describes as a ‘Purple Revolution’.

Jitendra Singh, a medical doctor himself, mentions that Udhampur is the only parliamentary seat to now have three Centrally sponsored medical colleges, all having come up under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Lal Singh’s main theme is attack on the BJP for its “divisive and communal politics”. Ironically, Lal Singh had to step down as a minister in the last J&K government – a coalition ministry of the BJP and PDP – over the communal stance he took on the Kathua gangrape and murder case. He is currently out on bail in a money laundering case registered by the Enforcement Directorate.

In his speeches, Lal Singh refers to the abrogation of Article 370, and accuses the Modi government of taking away J&K’s “identity” and exploiting its people. “They have taken away our identity, the safeguards available to us on jobs and land… What has the abrogation of Article 370 given you? Your children now have to compete with outsiders for admission in degree colleges,” he says, asking if this was the development the BJP had promised.

Lal Singh also mentions the cancellation of land mutations of local people who had been cultivating State-owned plots in the border areas of Kathua district for generations.

While given his controversial past, there was some resistance to Lal Singh’s re-entry into the Congress, party leaders admit that his firebrand style has infused new energy in the ranks, with the different factions working together. His aggressive stance on Article 370 could even bring back some Hindu voters who had deserted the party for the RSS and BJP, say Congress leaders.

The Congress was earlier struggling to find a suitable candidate for Udhampur.

However, the BJP is confident that Udhampur is ready to back the party again, not just on count of the Hindutva and the “nationalism” vote, due to the “integration” of J&K into the country with the scrapping of its special status, but also the development the region has seen.

Union Minister Anurag Thakur has already addressed a number of rallies in support of Jitendra Singh, while Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is visiting Kathua on April 10.

PM Modi will be in Udhampur on April 12 and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in Kathua’s Basohli on April 15.