Jammu, Sep 13: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday to address an election rally in Doda district of Chenab valley region where party has fielded eight candidates.
This would be Prime Minister’s first campaign event in poll bound Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir after the assembly polls were announced.
As per the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), PM Modi is scheduled to address a BJP election rally in Doda Sports Stadium, which is considered as center place for Doda, Kishtwar and Ramban districts where voting for eight Assembly seats of Chenab Valley is scheduled on September 18.
During the 2014 Assembly elections, PM Modi addressed the BJP poll rally in Kishtwar district and party won four out of six segments but this time after delimitations number of seats rose to eight.
Party sources said the people of Doda had since then been demanding that they want to see and hear the PM.
“The choice of Doda as the venue for tomorrow’s election rally was made by the PM himself,” party sources said.
BJP sources said the visit by the Prime Minister will definitely boost the electoral prospects of party candidates in the UT.
A high alert has already been sounded in the entire Chenab Valley region with the security forces and the police maintaining their ubiquitous presence to secure the VVIP and the large number of people who turn out to hear him.
The BJP has already said that its star campaigner, the Prime Minister, will visit J&K for electioneering in every phase of the Assembly elections.
The party is contesting all 43 Assembly seats in the Jammu division. In the last J&K assembly, BJP had 25 MLAs.
PM Modi is also expected to visit the Valley on September 19 when he will address another BJP election rally in Srinagar city.
Voting in the three phases of J&K polls is being held on September 18, September 25 and October 01. The counting of votes will take place on October 8.
J&K is seeing an Assembly election after 10 years and its first after the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A.
In 2014 the state had a PDP-BJP coalition led by Mehbooba Mufti. The coalition fell in June 2018 when the BJP pulled out of the coalition. J&K was placed under the Governor’s rule. The then state governor, Satya Pal Malik later dissolved the Assembly. On August 5, 2019 Article 370 was abrogated and the state bifurcated into two UTs of J&K and Ladakh.
*Army Commander Northern reviews security*
Lt Gen MV Suchindra Kumar, Army Commander Northern Command, accompanied by GOC White Knight Corps, visited Dharmund and the CIF Delta to assess the prevailing security situation. During the visit, he was briefed on the current modalities and the operational preparedness of the forces stationed there.
According to an official post by the Northern Command on social media, Lt Gen Kumar praised the efforts of the troops, emphasizing the need to uphold high morale and professionalism to tackle future challenges effectively—(KNO)
