Jammu, September 21: India’s Home Minister Amit Shah plans to hold five public meetings in Jammu region on Saturday to prepare for the second phase of the Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections and intensify the BJP’s poll campaign.
A party source said: “Home Minister Amit Shah will address a series of party rallies on Saturday, at Mendhar at 10:30 am, Surankote at 12 noon (both in Poonch district), Thanamandi at 1:15 pm, Rajouri at 2:15 pm (both in Rajouri district) and finally Akhnoor (Jammu district, which goes to polls in the third and final phase on October 1) at 3:30 pm, after which he will return to New Delhi.”
BJP sources said the party has decided to intensify its election campaign with focus on its political stronghold Jammu region where it hopes to win maximum of 43 seats. In the 2014 elections, the BJP won 25 seats, almost all from Jammu region.
The second phase of the elections will be held on September 25 and will cover constituencies in Reasi, Rajouri and Poonch districts in Jammu region and Srinagar and Budgam districts in the Valley region.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday held two rallies in Srinagar and Katra to kick off the BJP’s campaign for the second phase of the assembly elections. Earlier, Modi had also addressed a party election rally in Doda on September 14 to campaign for the first phase of the elections.
The BJP fought the Jammu and Kashmir state assembly elections without an alliance, while the Congress and NCP formed an alliance before the elections and won 83 seats, with the two parties winning 31 and 52 respectively. Two seats were reserved for allies, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Black Panther Party, while the two parties failed to reach an agreement on the remaining five seats and will engage in a “friendly struggle”.
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