The Udhampur-Kathua Lok Sabha constituency from where MoS PMO Dr Jitendra Singh Thursday filed his nomination papers, for the first phase of polling on April 19, is set to witness a triangular contest after the induction of Choudhary Lal Singh in the Congress party.

The Congress party, so far, has not finalized the name of the party candidate for the seat but as per the grapevine, Choudhary Lal Singh is expected to throw his hat in the poll arena to resurrect his political image. He tasted defeat and figured at the number 4 position in the tally of total votes polled in the 2019 Lok Sabha seat. Ghulam Nabi Azad-led Democratic Progressive Azad Party is also keen on fielding senior party leader GM Saroori while the National Conference has decided to support the Congress candidate as part of their understanding in the INDIA bloc.

To begin with, Dr Jitendra Singh is in the commanding position.

After filing the nomination papers in the office of the Returning Officer, Kathua, Dr Singh listed out a long list of achievements highlighting developmental projects and welfare schemes that benefitted the common masses on ground zero. The other candidates, who are likely to contest the seat, have to work hard in the coming days to give a tough fight to the sitting MP. Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat along with the wife of Dr Jitendra Singh accompanied him to the office of the Returning Officer.

In 2019 Lok Sabha polls Dr Jitendra Singh garnered  7.24 lakh votes (61.24 percent votes) defeating  Vikramaditya Singh of the Congress party with a sizable margin of over 3.52 lakh votes.  Lal Singh had managed to secure a total number of 19049 votes (1.61 percent).

Before filing the nomination papers, Dr Singh also took out a rally that saw the participation of Dalip Singh Rana, better known as ‘The Great Khali’ for his exploits in the World Wrestling Entertainment, and BJP J&K chief Ravinder Raina.