Yogesh
Jammu, Mar 2: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday announced the names of incumbent MPs—Dr Jitendra Singh and Jugal Kishore as its candidates for Udhampur and Jammu parliamentary seats.
The 195 names in the list includes Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who will be contesting from Varanasi, in Uttar Pradesh, the constituency he currently represents.
Union Minister in PMO Dr Jitendra Singh and incumbent Member Parliament Jugal Kishore managed to win the confidence of party high command and get a mandate for the third time.
A senior BJP leader said that despite deliberations on several new names for the mandate, the BJP couldn’t afford to disturb the Brahmin-Rajput equation on Jammu and Udhampur seats, which is considered as a crucial factor on both the seats.
“Jugal and Jitendra have also expressed desire to contest again and were repeatedly giving assurances to higher command about their support base,” a BJP leader said.
Addressing a press conference in Delhi, BJP general secretary Vinod Tawde said that at the BJP Parliamentary Meeting was held on 29 February and decisions were made regarding 195 candidates from 16 states and two Union Territories.
“During the meeting, it was decided that Prime Minister Modi will be the candidate from Varanasi seat in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections,” he said.
The Lok Sabha elections will likely take place in April-May this year.
Dr. Jitendra Singh, a medical practitioner by profession, came in limelight with 2008 Shri Amarnath Land Row agitation, which helped the BJP to gain ground in Jammu, with the party winning 11 seats in 2008 from just one in 2002.
After representing Shri Amarnath Sangarsh Smiti, which spearheaded agitation in Jammu, Singh quietly entered into BJP and was made the chief spokesperson. He made his electoral debut in 2014 and defeated former Chief Minister and then Congress bigwig Gulam Nabi Azad. There was no looking back for Dr Singh, from 2014, as he was inducted in core team of Prime Minister on May , 26, 2014 with responsibilities of some key departments like Prime Minister’s Office, Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions; Department of Atomic Energy; and Department of Space, Science and Technology, Earth Sciences, Development of North Eastern Region as junior minister.
Dr Singh again defended his seat in 2019 and won by 3.57 lakh votes defeating Congress’ Vikramaditya Singh, the son of Jammu and Kashmir’s last prince Karan Singh.
Jugal Kishore Sharma is Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh worker and former president of J&K BJP. He was the lone BJP Member of Legislative Assembly in J&K assembly during 2002-2008. In 2014, Sharma contested first parliamentary polls from Jammu-Poonch constituency. He was been re-elected as a member of Lower House of Parliament in the 2019 Indian general election in Jammu and Kashmir from Jammu constituency.
Jugal Kishore Sharma (BJP) defeated Congress candidate Raman Bhalla with a huge margin of over 3 lakh votes.
Meanwhile, sources in the BJP said that hectic deliberations are going on for the Srinagar, South and North Kashmir Lok Sabha seats. Sources said that Dr Darakshan Andrabi, who is presently heading Waqf Board, is the front runner even though there are other names that include Altaf Thakur and Arif Raja in the panel of candidates. From South, names of Anwar Khan, Surinder Ambardar, Fakir Muhammad Khan are making rounds. Shehnaz Ganai, the former NC MLC, who recently joined BJP in New Delhi is also in the news for being the probable candidate for the Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha seat.
