New Delhi: Three months after the rape and homicide of an eight-year-old Muslim woman in Kathua in January 2018, the then-Congress president Rahul Gandhi accompanied by his sister Priyanka Vadra led a candle march to India Gate. The identical day, BJP minister Choudhary Lal Singh have been compelled to resigned following uproar over his participation in a rally held in help of the rape accused.
Six years later, the previous Congressman is again to the occasion after a decade and is prone to be the occasion candidate from Udhampur.
The Congress’s choice to induct Lal Singh has drawn criticism from opposition events just like the Democratic Progressive Azad Occasion (DPAP) of Ghulam Nabi Azad.
“Utterly shameful for Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi to welcome – Lal Singh who supported the rapists of 8-year-old Asifa. This betrays the core principles and ideology of Congress. It validates our decision to leave a party that harbors supporters of rapists. Shame on you, Congress!” DPAP chief spokesperson wrote on social media platform ‘X’. “The Congress is exposed for its ideology by using supporters of rapists in elections.”
By the way, in 2014, Lal Singh had resigned from the occasion after the Congress denied him a ballot ticket from Udhampur. The 2-time Udhampur MP had then joined the BJP and went on to change into a minister in Mehbooba-Mufti-led coalition authorities.
It was his presence on the rally known as by Hindu Ekta Manch that raised hackles among the many Folks’s Democratic Occasion (PDP) ranks. Ultimately, the well being and forest minister within the BJP-PDP coalition authorities needed to resign in 2019. The chief, whose politics revolves round ‘Dogra Pride’, then fashioned his personal Dogra Swabhiman Sangathan Occasion (DSSP).
In November final 12 months, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Lal Singh in a cash laundering case pertaining to an academic belief run by his spouse and former legislator Kanta Andotra.
Now a part of the opposition INDIA bloc, the PDP is guarded in its response about Lal Singh’s induction within the Congress. “I don’t have much to say on the issue. It is the matter of Congress internally,” PDP chief spokesperson Suhail Bukhari advised ThePrint. The Nationwide Convention, too, has known as it an “internal matter” of the Congress occasion.
On its half, the Congress has sought to minimize his induction, saying that what Lal Singh did in 2018 was a mistake.
“I accept that it was a mistake to support them (Kathua accused). But if you see after that, since he left BJP, he has spoken against BJP’s policies towards Jammu and Kashmir,” Congress spokesperson Sheikh Aamir mentioned. “It’s a welcome step that he returned to the party. He has understood it was a mistake to leave the Congress. He has returned to his home.”
In 2019, Lal Singh had fought each Jammu and Udhampur Lok Sabha seats. He managed mere 20,000 votes from Udhampur, coming fourth. The consequence was not a lot totally different in Jammu the place he got here fourth with 7,500 votes. If he will get the Congress ticket from Udhampur in 2024, he will likely be going through sitting MP and Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh.
Jammu-based political analyst Zafar Chaudhary mentioned that Lal Singh brings a face, some noise and a previous historical past of getting received Udhampur twice.
“Congress and Lal Singh both needed each other. Lal Singh didn’t have a party and the Congress didn’t have a formidable candidate in Udhampur. His past will, however, be a challenge for the party,” Chaudhary says.
He factors out that the NC and the PDP “are strongly opposed to any association with Lal Singh” in view of his intervention within the “much publicised” Kathua case.
Each NC and PDP had created big stress on Congress final 12 months, with senior leaders issuing public statements to make sure Lal Singh is stored off stage throughout Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra. In actual fact, a Congress spokesperson had resigned in protest.
Congress leaders from the state amongst those that first proposed Lal Singh’s identify advised ThePrint that there was a close to unanimous demand throughout 5 districts of the constituency to rope him in. “Cadre from the constituency used to ask — ‘Lal Singh nahi aasakta?’ And they said if he comes, he can win,” mentioned a Congress occasion chief.
The Udhampur Lok Sabha seat contains 5 districts of Doda, Kishtwar, Kathua, Udhampur and Ramban. Whereas Doda, Kishtwar and Ramban are Muslim majority districts, Udhampur and Kathua have Hindus in larger numbers.
The BJP tends to attract its most energy from Udhampur and Kathua. Nonetheless, the mixed inhabitants of Udhampur and Kathua districts is greater than the remainder of the three districts, in response to the 2011 Census.
The Congress occasion is banking on Muslim voters to rally behind them. “Where will we get a better candidate than this? We are consolidating anti-incumbency; yes, there will be a fight,” one other senior Congress chief mentioned.
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Residence issue
A second Congress chief, who believes that the previous is just not going to affect Lal Singh’s probabilities, mentioned that “sympathy vote” can also be in favour of the previous MP..
“People from Doda–Kishtwar also stressed that the candidate should be able to get votes from Udhampur and Kathua. They wanted a strong candidate from this belt. They want to defeat the BJP,” he mentioned. “Lal Singh is widely seen as a fighter. People think he can perform against this dictatorial government.”
However Zafar Chaudhary says that Lal Singh’s electoral affect could be very restricted “Electorally, it is limited even in Udhampur but in terms of his articulation on a range of issues, Lal Singh is factored in at multiple levels in state politics,” the political analyst mentioned. “He has taken a public stand on a number of controversial issues, which makes him notable.”
The DSSP founder is a vocal advocate of a separate statehood to the Jammu division. He has additionally constantly raised demand for Article 371 (which supplies particular standing to 11 states) after the abrogation of Article 370 within the erstwhile state.
Chaudhary believes that there are a number of query marks about Lal Singh’s winnability. “Election victory includes a number of factors and the candidature is just one of those. The Congress doesn’t enjoy a very good position on any of the two Lok Sabha seats in Jammu. Ghulam Nabi Azad’s party will make a critical dent in Congress vote bank, particularly in Chenab Valley (part of Udhampur constituency). Lal Singh doesn’t have as much individual potential to help the party overcome its fundamental problems,” he says.
Congress coordinator for Udhampur-Doda Lok Sabha constituency Ravinder Sharma is just not apprehensive concerning the factors raised by Chaudhary. “He (Lal Singh) is a powerful leader, liked by people. He had mass support. He is a victim of vendetta politics. So he decided to join and he was allowed to join,” Sharma, additionally the occasion’s chief spokesperson, advised ThePrint.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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