SHEIKH NASIR HUSSAIN
KISHTWAR: Four Singhs are due to struggle to become the "King" during the upcoming LOk Sabha elections in the Doda-Udhampur Parliamentary Constituency number 5. The Parliamentary polls, due to begin this month, will see a straight battle of wits between these four Singhs.
The four main candidates, who will test the political waters this time, are Lal Singh of Congress, the sitting Member Parliament and former State Health Minister; Professor Nirmal Singh, former president of state BJP; Professor Bhim Singh, an old horse, and supremo of the National Panthers Party (NPP); and last, but certainly not the least, PDP’s Balbir Singh.
The first name in question, that of Lal Singh, needs no introduction, because of the way he won his last Parliamentary elections and went on to become an MP, riding on youth power. He won the last Parliamentary elections by defeating his nearest rival BJP’s Professor Chaman Lal Gupta, the three-time MP from the constituency, with a margin of 47,175 votes.
After Lal Singh won the last LS polls, he went on to join the Parliament in the national capital and his contact with the people of his own constituency was limited to occasional visits. As a result, he distanced himself from the voters and had to pay the price during the recently-held Assembly elections, which he lost in his home ground.
Moreover, his partial role during last year’s Amarnath Yatra agitation might also cost him votes among the Muslim voters of the constituency, who allege that he should have stayed neutral in face of the religious issue.
Although, the going might not be so easy for him this time but he has the full support of the ruling coalition in the state – Congress and National Conference.
Next comes Professor Nirmal Singh, the former Udhampur-Doda MP Chaman Lal Gupta’s party colleague. Nirmal Singh’s political run has so far not been very smooth in the state politics. Apart from combating the political rivals in other parties, he has had to keep himself safe from the detractors within the party as well. The result of this intra-party rift within the State BJP was evident during the bye-elections to the Lok Sabha, held in 2002.
However, situation might just turn in his favour this time because of last year’s Amarnath agitation, which was launched apparently at the behest of BJP and helped the party take its seat share in the Assembly from just 1 to 11.
Just like other candidates of his party, fighting for their political fortune in other parts of the state, Nirmal Singh, will surely be hoping to reap the benefits of the Amarnath Yatra agitation, expecting polarization of votes in favour of the BJP. Another aspect that might work in favour of Nirmal Singh is that the local BJP vote has traditionally been committed, so there is less chance of the voters shifting their party loyalties to some other candidate.
By far, Professor Bhim Singh, seems to be the most interesting candidate among the four Singhs, since he has been fighting elections since ages but the lady luck is yet to smile on him. The NPP supreme has been at the forefront of his party ever since its inception about 26 years back.
No political issue of the state escapes his attention and the manner in which he organizes press conferences at the drop of the hat, is, in a way, the essence of the kind of hardcore politician Bhim Singh is.
Well, it remains to be seen whether his hard core as a politician will help him reach Delhi through this constituency.
Last, but definitely not the least, comes Balbir Singh, the young leader of PDP, which was part of the ruling coalition with the Congress in the previous State Assembly. Balbir Singh is expected to garner a good number of votes for himself because of the change in the ruling coalition. Since the NC has gone ahead and struck a coalition with the Congress, with which, it was at loggerheads till before the last Assembly elections, this has irked the traditional NC voters, who are expected to support PDP’s Balbir Singh this time.
However, all said and done, politics is a strange ballgame, where there is nothing certain or uncertain. As a result, it will be upto the voters to decide, which of the four Singhs turns out to be the King eventually.
The four main candidates, who will test the political waters this time, are Lal Singh of Congress, the sitting Member Parliament and former State Health Minister; Professor Nirmal Singh, former president of state BJP; Professor Bhim Singh, an old horse, and supremo of the National Panthers Party (NPP); and last, but certainly not the least, PDP’s Balbir Singh.
The first name in question, that of Lal Singh, needs no introduction, because of the way he won his last Parliamentary elections and went on to become an MP, riding on youth power. He won the last Parliamentary elections by defeating his nearest rival BJP’s Professor Chaman Lal Gupta, the three-time MP from the constituency, with a margin of 47,175 votes.
After Lal Singh won the last LS polls, he went on to join the Parliament in the national capital and his contact with the people of his own constituency was limited to occasional visits. As a result, he distanced himself from the voters and had to pay the price during the recently-held Assembly elections, which he lost in his home ground.
Moreover, his partial role during last year’s Amarnath Yatra agitation might also cost him votes among the Muslim voters of the constituency, who allege that he should have stayed neutral in face of the religious issue.
Although, the going might not be so easy for him this time but he has the full support of the ruling coalition in the state – Congress and National Conference.
Next comes Professor Nirmal Singh, the former Udhampur-Doda MP Chaman Lal Gupta’s party colleague. Nirmal Singh’s political run has so far not been very smooth in the state politics. Apart from combating the political rivals in other parties, he has had to keep himself safe from the detractors within the party as well. The result of this intra-party rift within the State BJP was evident during the bye-elections to the Lok Sabha, held in 2002.
However, situation might just turn in his favour this time because of last year’s Amarnath agitation, which was launched apparently at the behest of BJP and helped the party take its seat share in the Assembly from just 1 to 11.
Just like other candidates of his party, fighting for their political fortune in other parts of the state, Nirmal Singh, will surely be hoping to reap the benefits of the Amarnath Yatra agitation, expecting polarization of votes in favour of the BJP. Another aspect that might work in favour of Nirmal Singh is that the local BJP vote has traditionally been committed, so there is less chance of the voters shifting their party loyalties to some other candidate.
By far, Professor Bhim Singh, seems to be the most interesting candidate among the four Singhs, since he has been fighting elections since ages but the lady luck is yet to smile on him. The NPP supreme has been at the forefront of his party ever since its inception about 26 years back.
No political issue of the state escapes his attention and the manner in which he organizes press conferences at the drop of the hat, is, in a way, the essence of the kind of hardcore politician Bhim Singh is.
Well, it remains to be seen whether his hard core as a politician will help him reach Delhi through this constituency.
Last, but definitely not the least, comes Balbir Singh, the young leader of PDP, which was part of the ruling coalition with the Congress in the previous State Assembly. Balbir Singh is expected to garner a good number of votes for himself because of the change in the ruling coalition. Since the NC has gone ahead and struck a coalition with the Congress, with which, it was at loggerheads till before the last Assembly elections, this has irked the traditional NC voters, who are expected to support PDP’s Balbir Singh this time.
However, all said and done, politics is a strange ballgame, where there is nothing certain or uncertain. As a result, it will be upto the voters to decide, which of the four Singhs turns out to be the King eventually.
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