BJP fails to impress Valley, Congress lacks force in Jammu
SRINAGAR: Ten years after the 2014 Assembly polls and five years after Article 370 abrogation, the BJP has been unable to make inroads into Muslim-dominated Kashmir as its influence is confined to seven districts of the Jammu region in the Assembly polls. This is a worrying sign for the saffron party’s ‘Naya Kashmir’ narrative and indicates “acceptability” issue in the Valley.
Almost conversely, the Congress won only six Assembly seats in J&K, including one from the Jammu region. The big question for Congress remains whether it missed the opportunity by not campaigning aggressively enough in the elections in the Jammu region, where it was in a direct fight with the BJP.
For the BJP, the situation is similar to 2014 when it won all its 25 seats from the Jammu region. It means the situation is no different. The BJP contested all 43 seats in Jammu region in 2024 Assembly polls. It left 19 out of 47 seats in Kashmir to smaller parties and individuals backed by it. The party has secured 29 seats, all from Jammu region. The turncoats, who joined the party ahead of the polls, could not win in the Muslim-dominated areas.
The poll results show the BJP could not open account in Ramban and Poonch districts and secured only one seat in another hilly and border district of Rajouri. Even J&K BJP chief Ravindra Raina, who is at the helm for over five years, could not win from his home constituency Nowshera in Rajouri district and lost to NC’s Surinder Kumar Chowdhary.
Political commentator Noor Mohammad Baba says people in Kashmir have demonstrated clearly that they don’t support BJP and what it did on August 5, 2019. He said the disapproval of PDP for its alliance with BJP in 2014 also points to it. A BJP leader said the party is being seen as a Hindu party in Kashmir.
In the case of Jammu, Congress contested 29 seats. This region has always seen a bipolar fight. That’s why the BJP focused its campaign on Jammu, its stronghold.
However, Congress failed to give attention to the Jammu region despite contesting more seats from there. Rahul Gandhi could not campaign in the last phase of polls and his two rallies in Jammu on September 27 were cancelled due to bad weather. The low-key campaigning by Rahul in Jammu region was baffling as he had received support in the region during his Bharat Jodo Yatra. Former deputy CM Tara Chand said the party got less time to campaign.
How both parties fared
Congress failed to give attention to the Jammu region despite contesting more seats from there. Rahul Gandhi could not campaign in the last phase of polls, while the BJP has been unable to make inroads into Muslim-majority Kashmir as its influence is confined to 7 districts of Jammu region.