J&K: BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain confident about party’s victory in Udhampur, says people are with PM Modi

Jammu (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], April 13 (ANI): BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain on Saturday expressed confidence in the victory of BJP’s Udhampur constituency candidate in the upcoming election.

He stated that the atmosphere in the area is favorable towards BJP and PM Modi.

“We held a ‘sabha’ in the interiors of Jitender Singh’s constituency. The atmosphere here only shows the lotus and Modi and Modi slogans everywhere…People want to go with PM Modi. Nobody wants to sit in a sinking ship…PM Modi will win with a great majority,” he said.

The BJP has fielded Union Minister from Udhampur who has been representing the constituency since 2014. Singh had defeated former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad from Udhampur in 2014.

The Congress has fielded Choudhary Lal Singh from Udhampur. Lal Singh returned to the party six years after he was forced to resign following his participation in a rally held in support of the Kathua rape accused, in which a child was raped. The Peoples Democratic Party, partner in the INDIA bloc, has extended its support to Lal Singh.

The Udhampur constituency will go to polls in the first phase of Lok Sabha elections on April 19, the first general elections in Jammu and Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370. While Voting in Jammu will be on April 26, in Anantnag-Rajouri it will be on May 7, in Srinagar on May 13, and in Baramulla on May 20.

Jammu and Kashmir will send five MPs to the Lok Sabha, the elections for which will be held in five phases.

Earlier, there were six seats for J-K, including Ladakh. But, following the abrogation of Article 370 by the Parliament, Ladakh does not have a Lok Sabha constituency.

In the 2019 elections, BJP won three seats while the National Conference won the other three seats.

The state of Jammu and Kashmir was reorganized into a union territory in October 2019. The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act 2019 was passed in 2019, and Article 370 of the Constitution of India, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, was abrogated.

The central government had in August 2019 abrogated Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcated it into two Union Territories (UTs), Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.