SRINAGAR: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hit the campaign trail for the Assembly Elections in Jammu and Kashmir and address a mega poll rally for the BJP candidate in the Doda district on Saturday (September 14). Tight security arrangements have been put in place for PM Modi’s visit, which will be the first in Doda in the last 42 years by any Prime Minister.
According to officials, multi-tier security has been deployed across the twin districts of Doda and Kishtwar, particularly around the venue, to ensure smooth conduct of the election rally at the stadium in Doda town.
Home Minister Amit Shah had addressed a poll rally in Jammu on last Saturday, while Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held another rally in Ramban district on Sunday.
“Prime Minister Modi will hold his first election meeting in Doda tomorrow. This will be a significant event as it marks the first visit of any Prime Minister to Doda in 42 years. The last prime ministerial visit to Doda was in 1982,” said Union Coal and Mines Minister and BJP election in-charge for Jammu & Kashmir, G Kishan Reddy, on Friday in Samba.
The Prime Minister’s rally is set to give boost to the BJP cadres and candidates in the region where voting for eight Assembly seats in the three districts of the Chenab Valley — Doda, Kishtwar, and Ramban — is scheduled for September 18.
BJP’s stronghold in J-K
During the 2014 Assembly elections, PM Modi addressed a BJP poll rally in the Kishtwar district. Since then, the people of Doda have been eagerly waiting to see and hear the Prime Minister, a leader said.
The Jammu region has long been a BJP stronghold, with the party winning all 25 of its seats from this region in the 2014 Assembly polls in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. The party is contesting all 43 Assembly seats in the Jammu division. In the last J&K Assembly.
Voting in the J-K Assembly elections will be held in three phases on September 18, September 25, and October 1. The counting of votes will take place on October 8. This is the first Assembly election in J&K in 10 years, and the first since the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A.
(With PTI inputs)
