Two back-to-back election rallies addressed by the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Kathua and Udhampur districts have further lifted the morale of the Bharatiya Janata Party workers ahead of the first round of polling on April 19.
So far, the road shows and street corner meetings of the BJP candidate from the Udhampur-Doda Lok Sabha seat have not received enthusiastic responses in some of the pockets of Kathua and Udhampur districts.
On the other hand, the Congress party candidate Choudhary Lal Singh is gradually intensifying his poll campaign across the Chenab Valley region and in the plain areas of Kathua district to upset the applecart of Dr Jitendra Singh.
The poor response of the party workers had left them worried, especially after witnessing the charged-up atmosphere at the election meetings of the rival candidate Choudhary Lal Singh.
To lift the morale of the party workers and boost the campaign of MoS PMO Dr Jitendra Singh, the election rallies of star campaigners were planned.
The campaign managers while reviewing the day-to-day progress of the campaign were able to figure out the reasons. According to a senior BJP leader, non-cooperation by some of the angry BJP workers created a piquant situation for the party. Some of the local MLA's who were not on the same page with Dr Jitendra Singh had decided to maintain a low profile during the electioneering. The BJP leader said the campaign committee of the party has sorted out the issues at the ground level emphasising the role of the booth level workers on the day of polling.
Former Chief Minister and National Conference Vice President Omar Abdullah is also scheduled to join the poll campaign in support of Lal Singh in the Chenab Valley region. On Saturday Congress campaigner Raj Babbar and AICC Incharge J&k BharatSinh Solanki also addressed a massive rally in Udhampur in support of Lal Singh.
In the last leg of the campaigning Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is also scheduled to visit Basohli on April 15 to campaign in support of Dr Jitendra Singh.
In Kashmir valley, the National Conference candidate Mian Altaf Ahmed Saturday issued a video statement in which he stated that he is ready to contest elections for the Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha seat.
In the video, Mian Altaf has dispelled the rumours and said that he is doing fine now. “I was unwell for the last few days. Initially, the doctors said that it might be a case of jaundice, however, then it was detected to be a case of mild fever, I have recovered a lot during the last few days,” Mian Altaf is heard saying in this fresh video.
The former MLA of Kangan Ganderbal said, “I do not know who spread these rumours. I will not back out from the Anantnag-Rajouri seat. Omar Abdullah, the party vice president, had also come to see me.”
Earlier, it was rumoured that Mian Altaf may pull out of the competition from the Anantnag-Rajouri seat.
