Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah are expected to visit Jammu and Kashmir to bolster the BJP’s campaign for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, scheduled for April-May next year. They will address rallies and launch various development projects and welfare initiatives in the Union Territory.
Modi is set to make a one-day visit, while Shah may spend a minimum of two to a maximum of three days in Jammu and Kashmir, depending on his finalized schedule. Senior BJP leaders, who have prepared a draft schedule, indicated that Shah has given his approval for the tour, and they anticipate formal confirmation from the Prime Minister once the Union Territory Government finalizes its list of projects and welfare schemes for him to launch.
The BJP leaders are confident about Shah’s visit in October, while the Prime Minister’s visit is expected to take place in November or December. The tentative plan involves the Prime Minister addressing one event in each of the Jammu and Kashmir divisions, with one likely in Jammu and the other in Anantnag district, Kashmir. However, the tour’s specifics will be determined through consultations with the Union Territory Government, which is formulating a series of welfare measures and schemes to be announced by Narendra Modi.
The BJP leaders revealed that numerous development projects are nearing completion in both divisions of the Union Territory, with several more in the pipeline. The Prime Minister is expected to initiate and inaugurate major projects in both divisions.
Amit Shah, at the party leadership’s request, is slated to address at least three rallies in Jammu division, including one in Poonch and one in Doda districts, with the third in either Udhampur or Kathua district. In the Kashmir valley, he is expected to hold a massive rally in Anantnag.
During his three-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir in October of the previous year, Amit Shah addressed rallies in Rajouri and Baramulla, announced ST status for Paharis, reviewed the security situation in the Union Territory, and launched projects worth billions of rupees.
The party leaders anticipate that Shah’s tour may extend to three days.
The visits by the Union Home Minister and the Prime Minister will mark the beginning of the election season for the Lok Sabha polls in Jammu and Kashmir, scheduled for April-May next year.
Additionally, the BJP leadership has requested party president Jagat Prakash Nadda to plan a two to three-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir at his convenience, although the details of his tour are yet to be finalized. Nonetheless, party leaders affirm that Nadda will visit the Union Territory before the announcement of the Parliamentary polls.
The national leadership has instructed party leaders to ensure that the BJP secures at least three Lok Sabha seats from Jammu and Kashmir and puts up a strong fight for the remaining two. The party intends to contest all five seats with full vigor.
The BJP had previously won the Udhampur-Doda and Jammu-Poonch Lok Sabha seats for two consecutive terms in 2014 and 2019. Additionally, the party secured the Ladakh Parliamentary seat for both terms; however, Ladakh is now a separate Union Territory.
Apart from Jammu and Udhampur seats, whose boundaries have been redrawn by the Delimitation Commission to provide the BJP with an advantage, the party is also eyeing the South Kashmir-Poonch constituency. This constituency has a significant number of Pahari voters who will receive Scheduled Tribe status from the Central Government ahead of the Parliamentary polls. In the event of a low voter turnout in South Kashmir districts like Anantnag and Pulwama, the BJP sees an opportunity in this seat as well.
