SRINAGAR: After a shock defeat from Ayodhya, the heart of Hindutva politics, in the parliamentary polls a few months back, the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi (SMVD) Assembly seat in J&K’s Reasi district has assumed additional significance for the BJP. A multi-cornered contest can unpredictably swing the result.
The Vaishno Devi constituency will go to the polls in the second phase of the Assembly polls on September 25.
The significance of the seat can be gauged from the fact that Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday held an election rally and a roadshow in the Katra, which is the base camp for the pilgrims visiting the Vaishno Devi shrine.
Seven candidates are in the fray from the seat, but the main contest is between BJP’s Baldev Raj Sharma, Congress’ Bhupinder Singh, former MLA Jugal Kishore and independent candidate Sham Singh.
The BJP won the SMVD seat twice in the last two elections in erstwhile J&K state in 2008 and 2014 and also took the lead from the segment in the parliamentary polls.
However, the saffron camp is beset with infighting, which surfaced when the party initially gave a mandate for the seat to Rohit Dubey, the district president Reasi. However, a few hours later, the party withdrew his candidature and substituted Dubey with former MLA Baldev Raj Sharma.
This led to protests by party workers, who pledged to vote against the official candidate. Adding to this is the resentment against the party among Katra’s Baridari community, the erstwhile caretakers of the Vaishno Devi shrine.
The community, which has about 15,000 voters in the constituency, has total electorate strength of about 57,000. The community has been demanding reservations in jobs in the shrine board and scholarships for their children in higher education, and fielded 52-year-old Sham Singh as its candidate.
Singh told this newspaper that the Baridari community looked after the affairs of the shrine until 1986 when the then J&K Governor gave the shrine management to the newly created Shri Vaishno Devi Shrine Board. “We have been overlooked by the board, and we have been fighting for our rights since 1986,” Singh said.
An influential group, the Yuva Rajput Sabha, has also extended support to Sham Singh.
A BJP leader said the party is working hard to ensure that Ayodhya is not repeated in Vaishno Devi, and has pressed star campaigners, including the PM, to swing votes.
Infighting, resentment
The saffron camp in Jammu and Kashmir is beset with infighting, which surfaced when the party initially gave ticket to Reasi district president Rohit Dubey. Adding to the BJP’s woes, is the resentment against the saffron party among Katra’s Baridari community, the erstwhile caretakers of the Vaishno Devi shrine.