Jammu, Sep 21 (KNO): The former Congressman, Choudhary Abdul Ghani, who switched over to Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) when Congress party didn’t give him the mandate, could be the game changer in Poonch Haveli Assembly constituency.
The two former Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs) from this constituency Aijaz Jan and Shah Muhammad Tantray will be facing the tough battle from the BJP candidate.
As per the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), Poonch Haveli is the only open seat in Poonch district whereas two other constituencies Surankote and Mendhar have been reserved for Scheduled Tribe (ST) population, and the battle here is the toughest in Poonch district.
According to the data issued by Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Jammu and Kashmir, 128807 electorates are eligible to vote during the second of Assembly elections which include 65809 male and 62998 female voters. After the last date of withdrawal of nomination papers, eight candidates are contesting from this seat which include Shah Muhammad Tantray of J&K Apni Party, Aijaz Jan, National Conference-Congress joint candidate, Choudhary abdul Ghani of BJP, Shamim Ahmed of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Rydham Preet Singh Sudan of Peoples Conference (PC) and three independent candidates.
Traditionally this seat has remained the stronghold of NC and Congress party but in 2014 PDP’s Shah Muhammad Tantray emerged winner but he switched over to AP after former PDPian Syed Muhammad Altaf Bukhari launched this party after August 5, 2019 abrogation of Article 370.
BJP has never been in the picture during the past elections and this time also they were looking for a strong leader which the party got when Choudhary Abdul Ghani decided to join the saffron party Congress party didn’t give him the mandate. Choudhary is the only Gujjar candidate on this seat whereas others are either of Kashmiri origin or from other communities. BJP may not have much stake in this seat being the Muslim majority one but division of votes may help the saffron party candidate to get over the line if Gujjars vote in large numbers in his favour.
Tantray and Jan on the hand will be looking for the work done by them during their tenure as MLAs wheras Jan has an advantage of being the alliance candidate and if Congress party leaders at the local level help him to get votes, he has better chances of winning.
Shamim Ahmed of PDP will be looking to give surprise to other candidates as it was PDP who won this seat in 2014 and the party has a strong base in the area. Tantray’s exit from PDP may dent PDP’s chances but local leaders will be trying hard to repeat the performance of the past.
PC has also placed a bet on a Sikh candidate by keeping in mind the good number of Sikh votes in the area but those votes are not a deciding factor as without support of the majority community there are very less chances for PC candidate to stake a claim on this seat—(KNO)