The newly-carved Shri Mata Vaishno Devi assembly constituency, which was earlier the part of Reasi assembly segment, appears to be heading for a multi-cornered contest despite most areas being strongholds for the BJP in the segment.
This prestigious seat holds significant importance for the BJP, especially following its recent electoral setbacks in Ayodhya, where the party suffered a humiliating defeat just four months after the consecration ceremony of the new idol of Ram Lalla in the grand temple.
The BJP, however, is facing an uphill task to take all its leaders and workers in the constituency together following recent bickering in the party unit over ticket allocation. Initially, Rohit Dubey, the president of the district unit, was considered the top choice for the BJP in its first list of 44 candidates, which was later withdrawn.
In the revised list of 29 candidates issued later, the party replaced Dubey with former MLA Baldev Raj Sharma, while keeping other names unchanged. This decision sparked massive protests from party workers in Katra. In response, senior party leaders intervened, leading to a “conciliatory approach” between Dubey and Sharma.
In addition, the party is facing a major challenge from significant votes of Baridar community (erstwhile caretakers of the holy cave shrine of Goddess Vaishno Devi) as they have fielded their own candidate, Sham Singh from the seat in protest against the alleged failure of the UT administration and the Centre to resolve their long pending demands.
The Baridars’ community has strong presence three blocks—Bhomag, Katra and Panthal, of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi assembly constituency and Their unity could be a game-changer in this election, as they hold approximately 13,000 to 14,000 votes in a constituency with around 56,000 total voters. Baridars have been demanding 40 per cent reservations in employments in the shrine board as per qualification for the Baridars. Apart from employment, they demand scholarships to their children in higher education.
Other key contenders for the seat include former minister Jugal Kishore Sharma, running as an independent candidate, and Bhupinder Singh, who previously contested unsuccessfully as an independent in the 2008 assembly elections for the Reasi constituency, from which the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi constituency was carved out.
Going by the statistics, the BJP has dominated this belt. In the recent Lok Sabha elections, BJP candidate Jugal Kishore Sharma led by 13,775 votes over Congress’s Raman Bhalla in the constituency, securing 27,838 votes to Bhalla’s 14,063.
Moreover, the BJP continues to hold an edge over its opponents in this area. In the 2014 assembly elections, when this constituency was part of the Reasi segment, BJP’s Ajay Nanda got 22,017 votes (about 25.3% of the total votes). Independent candidate Saraf Singh followed closely with 20,130 votes (23.1%), while Congress candidate Jugal Kishore garnered 18,929 votes, accounting for 21.7%.
In the 2008 assembly elections, BJP’s Baldev Raj Sharma secured 26,031 votes (37%), defeating his closest rival Jugal Kishore Sharma, who got 19,369 votes (27.5%). At that time, NC candidate Jagjeevan Lal garnered 15,653 votes (22.3%), while independent Bhupinder Singh received 2,788 votes.
However, in the 2002 assembly polls, Jugal Kishore Sharma won the Reasi seat with 23,045 votes (37%), defeating Baldev Raj Sharma, who received 20,989 votes, and NC’s Jagjeevan Lal, who secured 14,781 votes.
“Both the UT administration and the Central government have miserably failed to resolve our long pending issues despite the assurances by none other than the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his cabinet colleagues. Our community has been taken for granted by the BJP government, forcing the entire Baridar community members to field its own candidate. We will be the deciding factor in this election,” Sham Singh told The News Now.
Shubham Sharma, an electorate from Katra said, “The BJP has an edge over all other candidates because of its strong support base in the constituency. Initially, there were bickering in the party over ticket distribution but it has now been sorted out and all the BJP workers are working unitedly to ensure the victory of party candidate. As far as Baridar community is concerned, their representatives are a divided lot which will make the things quite easy for the BJP”.
Secondly, the people of Katra don’t want to replicate Ayodhya debacle in Lok Sabha elections here and they are committed to ensure the victory of the BJP candidate from the seat, he claimed.
