BJP's lotus once again did wonders in Jammu. BJP, which entered the fray with the slogan of new faces and Dogra CM of Jammu, won 10 out of 11 seats. However, before the elections, Congress was expected to perform better in some seats. But Congress, which entered the fray with the help of old faces, could not open its account again.
In 2014, Congress lost all 11 seats. In 2024 also, it lost everything. Independent Satish Sharma won from Chhamb assembly seat. He was a rebel of Congress. NC, which won two seats in 2014, also got reduced to zero.
BJP fielded new faces in the form of Rajiv Kumar from Bishnah, Mar Surinder Kumar, Akhnoor Mohan Lal, RS Pura Jammu South Narinder Singh Raina, Bahu Vikram Randhawa, Jammu West Arvind Gupta, Jammu East Yudhvir Sethi on 7 out of 11 seats.
All seven won. Devendra Singh Rana, who joined BJP from other parties, did not disappoint and won from Nagrota, Sham Lal Sharma from Jammu North. Garu Ram, who was also a former BJP MLA, won from BJP's Suchetgarh.
Congress drowned itself and took NC down with it.
In 2014, Devendra Rana of NC from Nagrota and Kamal Arora from Bishnah won. Then NC had contested the elections alone. This time NC had an alliance with Congress. In seat share, NC got only one seat in Jammu. Former minister Ajay Sadhotra contested from Marh which he lost. Congress contested 10 seats and could not win even one.
Only Bhalla was seen in the contest.
If we leave the Chhamb seat, then there was a direct contest between BJP and Congress on 11 seats of the Jammu district. Congress was seen giving a tough fight to BJP on only one seat. Everywhere else, the party had to lose by a good margin. On RS Pura Jammu South seat, there was fierce competition between Congress' Raman Bhalla and BJP's Narinder Singh for 17 rounds. In the end, Bhalla lost by just 1966 votes.
Old stalwarts could not save their reputation.
Former Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand from Chhamb, former minister Moola Ram from Mar, former minister Yogesh Sahni from Jammu East, former minister Raman Bhalla from RS Pura South, TS Tony from Bahu, Bhushan Lal Dogra from Suchetgarh, Manmohan Singh from Jammu West, Balveer Singh from Nagrota were old faces of Congress. Despite this, they lost. Apart from this, young Neeraj Kundan from Bishnah, and Ashok Kumar from Akhnoor also could not make the party win. Old faces of Congress could not create trust among the people. Could not break the strong image of BJP in Hindu-dominated areas.
Fighting as an independent suits Satish
Fighting as an independent candidate suits Chhamb's seat: Angry at not getting the ticket, Satish Sharma entered the fray as an independent. Former Deputy Chief Minister of Congress Tara Chand was given the ticket. Whereas BJP fielded Rajiv Sharma. Both Congress and BJP supporters were unhappy with their candidates. Satish Sharma benefited from this because his father Madan Lal was a two-time MP. He also benefited from this.
No strong contender worked.
Nagrota seat: Devendra Singh Rana won this seat. He had won the last time by contesting from NC. Then he faced tough competition from the BJP. He had won by a margin of 4 thousand votes. This time he won by about 28 thousand votes. Rana liked getting personal and party votes and there being no strong candidate in front of him. Congress' Balveer Singh was not strong here.
BJP strong again in its stronghold
Bahu, Jammu West, Jammu North, Jammu East, Mar, Akhnoor seat: These are the seats of Jammu district which have been BJP's stronghold in the past. BJP has won all these seats by more than 10 thousand votes. RSS has influence along with BJP on these seats. Congress could not break BJP's stronghold in these areas. Despite having big and old faces, Congress could not defeat BJP.
BJP was successful in wooing SC voters
Suchetgarh, Bishnah seat: Congress had a lead in Suchetgarh seat in the Lok Sabha elections. In Bishnah also Congress lagged behind BJP by a small margin. Both these seats are reserved for SC. BJP has now won both the seats. BJP brainstormed on both the seats after Lok Sabha elections. The party held its first meeting and rally in these areas. This is the reason why the party was successful in wooing SC voters. On the other hand, Congress lost many leaders in both Suchetgarh and Bishnah seats. The party had to bear the loss due to this too.
Sikh voters and refugees changed the equation.
RS Pura Jammu South seat: Congress had taken a lead in Lok Sabha elections on this seat. Raman Bhalla of Congress was ahead with a lead of about 7 thousand votes. But this time he lost. This seat has Sikh-dominated areas like Symbol, Gadhigarh, and Chattha Bhor Camp. Raman Bhalla has had a great influence on these voters. But BJP made a dent in the Sikh vote by fielding Sikh candidate Narinder Singh in this seat. While 4 to 5 thousand West Pakistani refugees also voted for the first time on this seat. BJP also benefited from this.
Akhnoor
Win: BJP Mohan Lal 49342
Loss: Congress Ashok Kumar 24965
Factor: BJP's stronghold and a new face, Congress did not have a strong face.
Bahu
Win: BJP Vikram Randhawa 40385
Loss: Congress T S Tony 29134
Factor: Randhawa was a local leader, T S Tony contested for the first time in the area, he was active on the border for the last 30 years.
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