J&K: PM Modi to address rally in Udhampur on April 12, Adityanath in Kathua on April 10

Jammu, Apr 4 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will address election rallies in Udhampur and Kathua districts of Jammu and Kashmir on April 12 and April 10, respectively, BJP leaders said on Thursday.

They will be campaigning for BJP candidate and Union minister Jitendra Singh, who is seeking reelection from Udhampur-Kathua Lok Sabha constituency.

“Modi Ji is coming to Udhampur on April 12. Yogi Ji will come to Kathua on April 10. They will address mega rallies,” Jammu and Kashmir BJP general secretary Ashok Koul told reporters in Udhampur.

Koul, who was campaigning for Jitendra Singh, said that PM Modi will address a big rally in Udhampur, in which people from Reasi, Nagrota, and Billawar will take part.

Preparations are going on in full swing for the two rallies, he said.

Union minister Jitendra Singh is seeking to retain the Udhampur-Kathua seat for the third time while the Congress has fielded Choudhary Lal Singh, who is facing ED heat in a money laundering case.

The entry of former minister G M Saroori in the electoral fray on the ticket of Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) has made it a three-cornered contest.

Though there are 12 candidates in the fray, the main fight is between the BJP candidate and his Congress rival.

The Union minister had retained the Udhampur Lok Sabha seat in 2019, defeating Congress candidate Vikramaditya Singh, the grandson of erstwhile Maharaja Hari Singh. In 2014, Jitendra Singh had defeated former Union minister Ghulam Nabi Azad from the Lok Sabha seat.

Lal Singh, who rejoined the Congress on March 20, had won the Udhampur seat twice on the party ticket in 2004 and 2009.

Saroori, vice chairman of Ghulam Nabi Azad-led DPAP, is a former J-K minister who had won Inderwal assembly constituency in Kishtwar thrice between 2002 and 2014.

Polling will be held for the Udhampur-Kathua seat in the first phase on April 19, officials said.

As many as 16,23,195 registered voters — 8,45,283 men, 7,77,899 women and 13 transgender persons — will vote at 2,637 polling stations across the constituency which is spread over five districts of Kishtwar, Doda, Ramban, Udhampur and Kathua, the officials said.