Udhampur/Kathua: After the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019, Kashmir saw an eerie silence coupled with heavy security. In contrast, the Hindu-majority Jammu was swept by a wave of celebration, with people distributing sweets and dancing to drum beats.
Five years later, the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir is set to witness its first major election, apart from local-level polls in 2020. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its candidates, Union Minister of State Dr Jitendra Singh and Jugal Kishore Sharma — contesting from Udhampur-Kathua-Doda and Jammu seats respectively — continue to trumpet the abrogation as national party leaders boast about the move. However, the Congress candidate from Udhampur-Kathua-Doda, Choudhary Lal Singh has been raising the demand for Article 371, which provides special status to 12 states, for the people of Jammu.
In the scenic hills of J&K’s Kishtwar, Lal Singh, whose supporters call him “Sher-e-Duggar” says: “Our (Article) 370 was a special status. It was equal to (Article) 371. If there was (Article) 371 in 12 states, then what was the need to remove 370 of Jammu and Kashmir? If you wanted to take away 370, you could have given 371.”
Lal Singh’s clear stand on the Article 370 abrogation is in stark contrast to that of the Congress leadership, which has chosen to walk a tightrope on the move after initially opposing it in Rajya Sabha.
The Congress leader, who was put under house arrest after the abrogation, also challenges the notion that Jammu is “happy” with the move.
Back in 2019, when Lal Singh fought elections as a member of the Dogra Swabhiman Sangathan Party (DSSP), founded by him in 2019, he came fourth. After BJP’s Dr Jitendra Singh and Congress’s Vikramaditya Singh, in the third position was Harsh Dev Singh, a candidate of the Panthers Party, the only recognised state party based out of Jammu.
Harsh Dev too has extended his support to Lal Singh in this election. Together, the two, along with state Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Manish Sahni, had at an ‘all-party meeting’ demanded the extension of Article 371 in December 2023. It was the first such meeting after the Supreme Court upheld the abrogation of Article 370 last year. The Shiv Sena, then undivided, too had celebrated the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019.
Leaders in Lal Singh’s camp are not hesitant about making Article 370. In the picturesque village of Panchari — declared a “tourist village” by the lieutenant-general (L-G) administration in 2021 — located nearly 40 kms away in the hills of Udhampur, Prof H.R. Sharma, an associate of Lal Singh since he formed his party, announced before the Congress candidate’s arrival, “They broke our 370 and sold it outside. But tell me who bore the loss of (the abrogation of Article) 370? Jammu faced the maximum loss. There was no loss in Kashmir. There was no loss in Ladakh but we lost so much.”
He added, “They finished our Dogra identity. Remember this. Your generations will not be here because they will take away your land.”
On arriving, Lal Singh said, “When laws were made against you, he (Dr Jitendra Singh) would thump the table (in Parliament). You would have seen it. Snatch land?…he would thump the table and say ‘snatch’. Jobs shouldn’t be given (to local residents)?…He said, ‘shouldn’t be given at all’. Outsiders should be given jobs? He said ‘yes, give them. Let them come to take property’. Now it is time for you to thump the table properly against him.”
Before Article 370 and 35A were abrogated, non-residents could not buy land and hold government jobs in Jammu & Kashmir.
Lal Singh ended his speech saying, “Jo sarkar zameene chheene, woh sarkar nikami hai. Jo sarkar naukriya chheene, woh sarkar nikami hai.”
Meanwhile, a power-packed lineup of the BJP top brass has chosen to make Article 370 a key poll plank not just in Jammu & Kashmir but also in other parts of the country.
In the run-up to elections, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Union Minister Anurag Thakur have already campaigned for Dr Jitendra Singh. Home Minister Amit Shah held a rally in the adjoining seat of Jammu ahead of polling in Udhampur.
“I remember we were in Lok Sabha together in 2014. Dr Jitendra Singh used to say that ‘I am a resident of Jammu and Kashmir, and Article 370 should definitely be ended’,” Adityanath told a roaring crowd in Kathua. “Dr Syama Prasad Mukherjee gave his life to achieve this dream. For 70 years, no government could take a decision,” he said amid chants of ‘Jahaan hue balidaan Mukherjee, woh Kashmir hamara hai’.
At his rally, Prime Minister Narendra Modi too mentioned Article 370 on multiple occasions.
“I challenge any political party of India to come forward with courage. Especially I challenge Congress. They should announce that they will bring back Article 370. This country will not be ready to even look at their face,” the PM said in Udhampur Friday.
He added, “Here, political party means ‘of the family, by the family, for the family’. For power, they had built a wall of 370 in Jammu and Kashmir. The people of Jammu and Kashmir could not look outside and the people from outside could not look towards Jammu and Kashmir.” He went on to speak about “demolishing” and “burying” the “wall of 370”.
But Lal Singh’s pitch is finding resonance among a section of voters in Jammu. Back in 2019, when Article 370 was abrogated, across the regions, a wave of celebration had emerged.
Late afternoon, in Udhampur, shopkeeper Pyarelal said while serving food that he was among the people who celebrated the abrogation of Article 370 back in 2019. “But what have we got?” he asked.
Another resident of Kathua, Abdul Majid, also said he does not find the plank of Article 370 attractive enough to vote for.
In an interview with ThePrint too, Lal Singh, when asked about his demand for Article 371, said, “I continue to demand Article 371. In Article 371 our identity will be safe. It is there in parts of Gujarat and Maharashtra. We are dogras. Why not Article 371 for us? Is our identity less than any others?”, said Lal Singh.
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Dynamics of Udhampur-Doda seat
Since 1984, whoever won the Udhampur Lok Sabha seat formed the government in the Centre, except in 1989. Over the last 10 elections, both BJP and Congress have won the seat five times each.
Dr Jitendra Singh won this seat with a margin of 3.5 lakh votes five years back. The seat now includes five districts after the delimitation took place — Doda, Kishtwar, Ramban, Udhampur and Kathua.
Despite losing by a huge margin, Congress candidate Vikramaditya Singh, son of Dr Karan Singh, secured more votes than BJP in the Muslim majority districts of Doda, Kishtwar and Ramban, according to Election Commission data. Singh, like the Congress’s candidate in 2014 Ghulam Nabi Azad, is no longer with the Congress.
However, in Udhampur and Kathua, the BJP was ahead of Congress by a huge margin. Another district, Reasi, which was under this constituency before delimitation, also saw BJP get an upper hand, though with a lead of less than 10,000 votes.
The combined populations of Udhampur and Kathua is more than that of the three other districts under this seat.
While Congress leaders expect to consolidate Muslim votes and make the most of Lal Singh’s presence in Udhampur and his home district of Kathua, Ghulam Nabi Azad too has fielded his candidate, former minister G.M. Saroori, who won the assembly seat of Inderwal thrice on a Congress ticket in 2002, 2008 and 2014.
While Saroori’s influence is limited, he may dent the Congress vote bank. From Inderwal alone the Congress won nearly 40,000 votes in 2019. In case of a close fight, this number could be significant.
Another factor in play in the seat is the significant Rajput vote bank, as both candidates come from the community. Dr. Jitendra Singh has got top Rajput-Thakur BJP leaders to campaign including the likes of Anurag Thakur, Yogi Adityanath and Rajnath Singh to campaign for him in run-up to polls.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
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