The prestige of both the Congress and the BJP is at stake in the newly carved R S Pura-Jammu South Assembly constituencies of Jammu district in Jammu and Kashmir.
While the BJP has fielded its national general secretary Dr. Narendra Singh Raina, the Congress's candidate for this seat is the party's working president of J&K and mass-based leader Raman Bhalla.
Among the 11 assembly segments of Jammu district, residents are keenly witnessing an electoral battle on this hot seat where both the national parties have been utilizing all their resources during the last three days of the campaigning.
Along with the other 24 assembly segments of Jammu province, this seat will go for poll on October 1 on the last and final phase of elections in Jammu and Kashmir.
Among all the eleven assembly constituencies of the Jammu district, this assembly segment has the highest number of 1,30,107 registered voters, comprising 67,322 males, 62,782 females, and three transgender voters. The constituency also houses 149 polling stations, 98 urban and 51 rural for smooth and hassle-free voting experience for all registered voters.
Spanning both rural and urban areas, the constituency holds a special place in Jammu's political scene. Historically, it has sent notable figures to the assembly, and the stakes are now even higher with its newly drawn boundaries following the 2022 delimitation.
R S Pura-Jammu South is set for a fierce battle between two-time MLA and former minister Raman Bhalla of the Congress and BJP candidate Dr. Narinder Singh Raina.
The constituency, which includes some rural areas of RS Pura and newly added areas of Jammu South—part of the capital city following the 2022 delimitation—has become a very interesting battleground.
Bhalla hoping to repeat Lok Sabha performance
Former two-time minister and working president of J&K Congress Raman Bhalla is hoping to repeat the performance of the 2024 Lok Sabha when he took the lead over BJP candidate Jugal Kishore Sharma on this seat.
Bhalla secured more votes from this assembly segment than BJP's sitting MP Jugal Kishore Sharma. Gandhi Nagar assembly seat is part of the Jammu Lok Sabha constituency.
Despite losing the seat by a margin of 1,35, 498 votes, Raman Bhalla broke the winning streak of the BJP in Hindu-dominated assembly segments by taking the lead in RS Pura-Jammu South and Suchetgarh assembly segments.
On R S Pura-Jammu-South, which was earlier part of the Gandhi Nagar assembly segment, Bhalla got 44162 votes while Jugal Kishore Sharma secured 37798 votes.
Similarly, Bhalla secured 42248 votes in the Suchetgarh assembly segment while Sharma got 37442 votes.
Important to mention here that in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections Jugal Kishore Sharma got 38998 votes on this assembly segment and Bhalla secured 9835.
Notably the Suchetgarh assembly segment is a stronghold of the BJP where the party has never lost elections except in 2002.
BJP candidate relying on his image, Prime Minister's popularity
A professor at the Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agriculture Science and Technology (SKUAST) Jammu, BJP candidate Dr. Narendra Singh Raina is seeking people's support for his image and in the name of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Being a refugee from the Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK), the BJP candidate is also hoping to get the votes of this community which is a dominant force in the R S Pura-Jammu South constituency.
As Raina belongs to the Sikh community, he is also hoping to get overwhelming support from his community. This seat has the highest number of Sikh voters in the whole of Jammu and Kashmir.
Star campaigners campaigned for party candidates.
Star campaigners of both parties campaigned for their candidates on this hot seat. The Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi addressed a joint rally of all his party candidates of the Jammu district on September 25, former Deputy Chief Minister of Rajasthan Sachin Pilot addressed rallies in favour of Raman Bhalla in his constituencies.
Star campaigners including Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, and several Union ministers addressed rallies in the R S Pura-Jammu South Assembly segment to garner support for Dr. Narendra Singh.
BJP candidate is hoping for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rally on September 28 when he addressed a mega rally in support of all 11 candidates of Jammu district.
