Jammu, Apr 23: With campaigning for the second prestigious Lok Sabha seat of the Jammu region – Jammu-Reasi – set to conclude on Wednesday, the electoral battleground is gearing up for polling on April 26. Formerly part of the Jammu-Poonch Lok Sabha seat, Jammu-Reasi has emerged as a key constituency following delimitation, with 17.81 lakh electorates set to determine the fate of 22 candidates vying for the seat.
Jugal Kishore Sharma, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate, has won in this Lok Sabha seat in both the 2014 and 2019 Parliamentary elections with substantial margins. The party has once again entrusted Jugal with the mandate for this seat. It also gave the consecutive mandate to Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh for the Kathua-Udhampur-Doda Lok Sabha seat.
The primary contest among the 22 candidates centres around BJP’s two-time sitting MP, Jugal Kishore and Congress candidate Raman Bhalla, who enjoys support from the National Conference (NC) and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). Notably, Jugal secured a convincing victory over Bhalla in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
In a notable development, the Ekam Sanatan Bharat Dal has fielded its candidate Advocate Ankur Sharma for the first time, while the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has nominated Jagdish Raj. The Jammu-Reasi seat, perceived as a stronghold of the BJP, now awaits a keen electoral contest.
With approximately 9.21 lakh male voters and 8.60 lakh female voters, alongside 28 transgender voters, this Lok Sabha seat comprises 18 Assembly constituencies. The BJP’s star campaigners, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah, have held rallies in support of the party’s candidate, intensifying the electoral fervour in the region. BJP leaders and workers have embarked on an extensive door-to-door campaign to garner support for their candidate in the Jammu-Reasi seat.
