Rajnath, Naqvi among BJP’s star campaigners for JK

Srinagar, Mar 16: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and two prominent Muslim faces of the BJP would be party’s star campaigners in Jammu and Kashmir.
Similarly, for Congress, Rahul Gandhi and Navjot Singh Sidhu would lead the campaign for the Congress candidates in the state.
The Lok Sabha election in Jammu and Kashmir will be held in five phases beginning April 11. The political parties have started the election campaigning to lure the electorate to vote in favour of their candidates.
The BJP has decided to contest all six-parliamentary seats in Jammu and Kashmir. The party state unit has sent a list of prospective candidates for party high command’s approval.
The high command will select one candidate among Ali Muhammad Dar, Surendar Ambardar, and Sheikh Abdul Rashid for Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency.
For Anantnag Parliamentary constituency, the names of Sofi Yusuf, and Muhammad Rafi Wani, and Ghulam Nabi Dar, while MM War, GM Mir and Muhammad Anwar Khan for north Kashmir constituency, have been recommended. Similarly, a list of candidates has also been submitted from Ladakh and Jammu regions.
The BJP has also submitted a list of names of six leaders to be the party’s star campaigners in J&K.
“We have decided on some names like Rajnath Singh, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Shahnawaaz Khan, Nitin Gadkari to be star campaigners. We are sure of winning all the seats,” BJP State General Secretary (Organisation) Ashok Koul told The Kashmir Monitor.
Asked if BJP ran out of seats, what will be the party’s next option, he replied: “Nobody had thought in 2014 that the PDP will forge an alliance with BJP. Take the example of BSP-SP alliance in UP. Mayawati and Akhilseh Yadav were poles apart but now they came together during election time. This is what happens. So we don’t need to worry about the options. We will have several options if any such need arises.”
A BJP leader said that they were eyeing on Shia-dominated places in Kashmir. “Mukhtar Abaas Naqvi, Shahnawaaz Khan will campaign in Shia-dominated areas,” the BJP leader added.
In 2009 and 2014 parliamentary polls, BJP managed a voting share of 18.61 and 32.4 percent respectively.
In 2014 polls, BJP won two Parliamentary seats from Jammu and one from Ladakh.
For Congress, president Rahul Gandhi would be party’s star campaigner in the state.
“Senior Congress leaders like Rahul Gandhi, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Ambika Soni, and Navjot Singh Sidhu are likely to campaign here,” senior Congress leader G N Monga said.
The Congress is in talks with the National Conference for an alliance in Jammu and Kashmir for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
In 2004 Parliamentary elections, the Congress had secured 27.83 percent vote share, which dipped to 24.67 percent in 2009 Lok Sabha polls.
While as in 2014 Parliamentary polls, the vote share of Congress slumped around 22 percent triggering an unprecedented debacle.