Cong to bet on Lal Singh from Udhampur, Tara Chand from Jammu?

Jammu, Mar 18: Lagging behind its political bete-noire in announcing its candidates for Udhampur and Jammu Lok Sabha constituencies, which will go to polls in the first two phases, Congress may bet on its two “old-guards” as its nominees.

“If Congress’ leadership’s (read Rahul Gandhi’s) focus on ‘caste-census politics’ and majority view of J&K Congress prevailed over all other related factors, former Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand, who is already back home after his brief sojourn out and former minister Chowdhary Lal Singh, after his ‘home-coming’ which may happen any time soon, would be party candidates from Jammu and Udhampur parliamentary constituencies respectively,” the party insiders reveal.

According to them, given party leadership’s priorities and engagements at the national level, a decision in this connection could not be taken. “Tomorrow is CWC meet, following it, the party will take a call on its nominees. Decision is likely this week only, may be in a day or two,” they assert.

As far as Jammu seat is concerned, the party has to take a call out of the front-runners i.e., Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) working president and the former minister Raman Bhalla, who had contested the 2019 election and Tara Chand.

“Interestingly, the former Deputy Chief Minister was not in the fray initially. Post-shortlisting of probable nominees, Bhalla was the front-runner to be followed by JKPCC senior vice president Ravinder Sharma. During the meeting chaired by AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge and also attended by Rahul, caste-politics of Jammu and Udhampur seats was explained. Traditionally Jammu seat is considered to be a “Brahmin” seat, and Udhampur a “Rajput” seat, though exceptions have been there in the past, in both the constituencies,” party sources stated. “But there is no secret that SC, ST and OBC topped our leader (Rahul’s) agenda. So, he asked as to why the party could not field a Dalit from the Jammu seat, hence figured the name of the former Deputy Chief Minister. The most interesting aspect was that he (Tara Chand) himself was reluctant on the pretext that going by the constituency profile and percentage of SC population, it (SC community) can help a candidate (or party) win but itself cannot win this seat. In case of another party loyalist Ravinder Sharma, given financial constraints, he, himself, volunteered to opt out of fray, leaving two heavy-weights in the fray,” party sources revealed.

According to them, the party leadership’s calculation is that Tara Chand may get double advantage i.e., his rural background, besides being an SC. If he is in a position to have consolidation of SC, ST, OBC and other minorities (including Sikhs) behind him taking advantage of anti-incumbency factor against BJP candidate, the party (Congress) stands a good chance to score victory or at least, he can also help in consolidation of votes for assembly elections, in advance.

“As far as Bhalla is concerned, he is the trusted lieutenant of the party and has been tried also in the last election. He has his own loyal “political clientele” which he always manages to bring to the party fold. But, the caste-profile of the constituency comes as a constraint for him. In any case, so far, he is in the fray yet if Rahulji’s agenda is given prominence, then Tara Chand will win the nomination,” sources point out.

With regard to the choice of Chowdhary Lal Singh, a Congressman, who had turned rebel in 2014 and even enjoyed a “fruitful hopping” experience in the company of party’s enemy number one (BJP), the Congress insiders maintain that he (Singh) was not alone in the list of probable candidates.

“The party had enlisted Thakur Balbir Singh, Pankaj Dogra also. The name of former minister and JKNPP leader Harsh Dev Singh was also being considered as he enjoyed good influence in certain Udhampur pockets. Lal Singh was all set to be in the party fold during Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra only but some insiders "spoiled the party.” Anyway, this time the party is giving serious consideration. In fact, JKPCC majority view is also in favour of Lal Singh as the local unit feels that he, given his influence in both Jammu and Udhampur, and solid political constituency (vote-bank), can be an asset for the party. We believe he will be in the best position to take advantage of the anti-incumbency wave against BJP,” they add.

Any objection from allies, response to this question was, “That is manageable, always.”