PDP not to field nominees on 2 seats in Jammu region

Arteev Sharma

Tribune News Service

Jammu, March 23

The PDP’s decision not to contest two Lok Sabha seats of the Jammu region “in the larger interest of secular forces” has posed a great challenge for the BJP, which had won both the seats during the 2014 parliamentary poll. The decision has given a big push to the Congress-NC combine’s common candidates in the region.

If party sources are to be believed, the PDP’s move to stay away from the electoral race on the two crucial seats will prevent the division of Gujjar, Bakerwal and Muslim votes. This will certainly help the Congress candidates — former minister Raman Bhalla from the Jammu-Poonch seat and Dogra dynasty scion Vikramaditya Singh from the Udhampur-Doda constituency.

“The PDP had secured over 1.68 lakh votes from the Jammu-Poonch seat in the 2014 elections when there was a limited support to the party. The PDP now has a strong base in Rajouri and Poonch districts, which are a part of the Jammu-Poonch parliamentary constituency. Had the party decided to contest from the seat, it would have led to a division of over 2.5 lakh secular votes. This would have indirectly increased the winning prospects of the BJP,” a senior PDP leader said while justifying the decision of the party high command not to contest two seats.

Riding high on a ‘Modi wave’, BJP candidate Jugal Kishore Sharma had won the Jammu-Poonch seat by a margin of 2.57 lakh votes in 2014. From the Udhampur-Doda seat, BJP candidate and Union Minister in the PMO Jitendra Singh had registered a victory over Congress stalwart Ghulam Nabi Azad by a margin of over 60,000 votes in the last elections. The PDP candidate polled over 30,000 votes from the seat.

“We want to consolidate the secular vote bank at any cost and it is possible only if we don’t allow any division in it. Any division of the secular vote bank will directly benefit the BJP candidates. Our party will ensure a straight fight between two national parties on the parliamentary seats of Jammu province,” the leader said.

Earlier, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti had termed all reports of any possible alliance with the Congress as “speculations and rumours” and announced to contest on all six Lok Sabha seats of Jammu and Kashmir.