Amit Shah to address five rallies across Jammu region today

JAMMU: Union Home Minister Amit Shah is slated to address five public meetings across the Jammu region on Saturday, intensifying the BJP’s poll campaign ahead of the second of the three-phased Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections.

“Home Minister Amit Shah will on Saturday address a string of party rallies, in Mendhar at 10:30 a.m., in Surankote at 12:00 noon (both in Poonch district), in Thanamandi at 1:15 p.m., in Rajouri at 2:15 p.m. (both in Rajouri district), and finally in Akhnoor at 3:30 p.m. (Jammu district, which goes to polls in the third and final phase on October 1) before he leaves to return to New Delhi,” a party source said.

BJP sources said the party has decided to intensify its poll campaign focusing on its political bastion of the Jammu region where the party expects to win the maximum of its 43 seats. In the 2014 elections, the BJP had won 25 seats, almost all of these from the Jammu division.

The second phase of the elections, on September 25, covers the constituencies in Reasi, Rajouri, and Poonch districts in the Jammu region, and Srinagar and Budgam districts of the Valley.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi started the BJP’s poll campaign for the second phase of the Assembly elections on Wednesday, addressing two rallies in Srinagar and Katra. The PM had earlier also campaigned for the first phase of polling when he addressed a party campaign rally in Doda on September 14.

The BJP is fighting the J&K Assembly polls without any alliance, while the Congress and the National Conference have a pre-poll alliance, covering 83 seats divided between the two parties — 31 and 52, respectively, two left for allies CPI-M and the Panthers Party and five where they could not reach an agreement and will hold a “friendly fight”. (IANS)