J&K assembly polls: PM Modi to address rally in Doda tomorrow, first prime minister visit in 50 years

Doda (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], September 13 (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Jammu and Kashmir’s Doda on Saturday to address a public rally for the BJP for the upcoming assembly elections, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said on Friday.

Jitendra Singh visited the venue on Friday evening to review preparations for the public meeting on September 14.

The elections in Jammu and Kashmir are scheduled for September 18, September 25, and October 1, with counting set for October 8.

Singh noted that this will be the first visit by a Prime Minister to Doda in nearly 50 years.

“There is a lot of excitement among the public as PM Modi has given priority to remote areas…In the past 10 years, a lot of development has taken place in Doda…No Prime Minister has visited Doda in the past 50 years. But after the visit of PM Modi, a message will go that PM Modi has worked a lot, bringing remote areas on par with developed areas,” he said while speaking to ANI.

On PM Modi’s vision of ‘Naya Kashmir,’ Singh said, “There has been significant progress. The number of startups has increased from 30 to around 850-900.”

Regarding the BJP’s performance, Singh said, “We will comfortably win all the seats in the first phase of the polls.”

He also criticised previous Congress and coalition governments for neglecting the region, adding, “In the last 11 years, the area has transformed. It now takes just 2-3 hours to reach Jammu, which was previously impossible, thanks to new road networks through the villages.”

These elections are the first assembly polls in Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370. Jammu and Kashmir has 90 Assembly constituencies, including 7 reserved for SCs and 9 reserved for STs. According to the Election Commission of India, there are 8.806 million eligible voters in the region.

According to the Election Commission of India, Jammu and Kashmir has 88.06 lakh eligible voters.

In the previous Assembly elections, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) won 28 seats, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secured 25, the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (NC) won 15, and the Congress won 12. (ANI)