It’s a high octane contest in Udhampur-Doda, one of the five Lok Sabha constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir. Udhampur-Doda votes in first phase on April 19. For the first time, the reach and appeal of the BJP’s Hindutva agenda will be tested here after the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019. That is set against “hurt Dogra pride”, represented by the chequered personality of Chaudhary Lal Singh.
The campaigning reflects the BJP’s eagerness to win the seat, and is heavily tilted as an ideological battleground. A close aide of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Jitendra Singh, is pitted against his former party colleague Mr. Lal Singh, who quit the BJP in 2018 to float his own party, the Dogra Swabhiman Sangathan, “to restore hurt Dogra pride”. This year, Mr. Lal Singh, in a surprise move, joined the Congress just days ahead of filing his nomination in March. His candidacy is backed by the Congress’ ally, Farooq Abdullah’s National Conference (NC), which once objected to his presence during a 2023 ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ rally of Rahul Gandhi because of his past.
From the Prime Minister to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath — the campaign trail has been lit up by the BJP’s top leaders showcasing Mr. Modi living up to the Hindutva agenda, and succeeding in the implementation of the party’s manifesto, including the construction of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, abrogation of Article 370 in J&K, and taking India to newer heights. All the BJP leaders have focused on what they say is the fruitful impact on J&K of the Centre’s decisive end to the erstwhile State’s special status in 2019. “Ram Rajya has already started and the Uniform Civil Code is next,” Mr. Rajnath Singh announced during an election rally.
The BJP’s Hindutva’s narrative, however, has been upended by Mr. Lal Singh, who has emerged as one of the few Hindu leaders from the Jammu division to question and highlight the negative impact of the abrogation of Article 370 on the Hindus of Jammu, especially the Dogras, who comprise the main voters in Kathua and Udhampur districts of the constituency. Though both the BJP and Congress candidates are Rajputs, it’s hurt Dogra pride that Mr. Lal Singh claims to represent and reclaim.
Mr. Lal Singh has brought to the focus “non-locals and blue-eyed” people occupying offices in the Union Territory, and accused the Lieutenant Governor’s administration of “stepmotherly treatment to local employees”. Unlike the BJP’s grand, national-level initiatives projected in its rallies, Mr. Chaudhary has put the spotlight on the common man’s issues, including recruitment scams and the lack of an employment policy.
A rare votary of granting special status to J&K, essentially not the Congress’ stand, Mr. Chaudhary also sought a vote on fighting for Article 371, and laws safeguarding land and jobs for locals. “If I am voted to power, will raise voice for early Assembly and end of the proxy rule of the BJP,” Mr. Chaudhary, who has been hounded and arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in the past two years in an alleged money laundering case, said.
More than the BJP candidate, the Congress candidate’s past is his biggest enemy. He took out a controversial rally in Kathua as a BJP leader in 2018 in support of the accused of the rape and murder of an eight-year-old Bakerwal Muslim girl. He was forced to resign from the party after the then Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)-BJP coalition government dropped him from the Cabinet. In the Hindu-majority districts of Kathua and Udhampur, Mr. Singh may charm voters, but it’s the Muslim votes of Doda, Kishtwar and Ramban, which have a sizable population of the community, that will be his litmus test. Over 1.5 lakh West Pakistan refugees, who were granted citizenship by the government after 2019, inhabit Kathua district and will also vote in this election. The BJP remains their favourite party.
Since 2004, the Congress has won the seat twice, and the BJP twice. While with the BJP, Mr. Singh won the 2019 election by a huge margin of 3.57 lakh votes. However, this time, the contest is poised to be a close one. The decisive factor could be the consolidation of Muslim votes in Doda, Ramban and Kishtwar. Besides the BJP and the Congress, former Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad’s Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) also has its eyes on the seat, mainly with the Muslim votes of the Chenab Valley, which includes the Muslim-majority areas of Doda, Ramban, and Kishtwar. Mr. Azad has fielded a close confidant, G.M. Saroori, from his stronghold.
Around 16.23 lakh voters are set to decide the fate of the candidates, including about 8.45 lakh male votes and 7.77 lakh female votes. Young voters in the 18-19 years age group stand at 84,468, and include 45,825 male voters and 38,641 female voters.
The voter population is mainly spread in rural and hills areas, with 2,457 polling stations declared rural and only 180 as urban. With wet weather predicted on April 19, voter turnout may be dampened in the upper reaches of the hills, where people have to trek to cast their votes.
