CHHAMB, Sept 17:
It is perhaps the toughest electoral battle for former deputy chief minister and Congress candidate from Chhamb in Jammu district Tara Chand with rebels from both his party and the BJP queering the pitch in this Congress bastion.
The Congress party had won the Chhamb Assembly constituency seven out of the past nine elections since 1962 when veteran Congress leader Chajju Ram secured the seat for the first time.
Sixty-one-year-old Tara Chand, who won the Chhamb seat twice in 2002 and 2008 but lost to the BJP in 2014, is now in a four-cornered contest with BJP candidate Rajeev Sharma, rebel Congress candidate Satish Sharma, and BJP’s rebel candidate Narendra Singh.
Tara Chand, who served as Congress Legislative Party (CLP) leader, Deputy Chief Minister, and Speaker of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly under the governments of Mufti Sayeed and Omar Abdullah, chose to contest from his traditional Chhamb seat after it was recently de-reserved.
Driving through this rural constituency on the banks of the Chenab River in an Audi, Tara Chand, who is heavily engaged in door-to-door outreach to woo voters, downplays the rebel factor, stating that it won’t affect his chances.
He emphasised that his track record of development work will work to his advantage and has been listing his achievements in public rallies.
“I will win this seat with the support of my people. It is their confidence that made me choose this traditional constituency following its de-reservation. I have done significant development work here and transformed its face,” Tara Chand said.
Annoyed by the denial of a ticket, Satish Sharma, who is from a Congress loyalist family, resigned from the party and filed his nomination for the Chhamb seat.
“I never wanted to contest without the party’s mandate. The mandate should have been given based on winnability. The people wanted me to contest, and I honoured their request. I am confident they will ensure my victory,” said Sharma, the son of former minister and three-time MLA and two-time MP Madan Lal.
Satish Sharma, whose uncle is the former minister and BJP candidate from Jammu North Sham Lal Sharma, said he has been working at the grassroots level in the constituency for the past ten years.
“This is the constituency where my father won two elections and became a minister,” he added.
The BJP, which fielded former MLA Rajeev Sharma from this seat after his Akhnoor segment was reserved for the Scheduled Caste category, faces internal dissent. Local BJP leaders and workers have fielded rebel candidate Narendra Singh Bhau as an independent to challenge Sharma.
“Narendra Singh, who left the BJP, has made Rajeev Sharma’s path more difficult. The BJP won’t necessarily benefit from the face-off between Tara Chand and Satish Sharma.
“The internal rift within the BJP surfaced after Sharma’s nomination, with local leaders and workers protesting outside the party office in Jammu, accusing Sharma of being an outsider. They wanted Narendra Singh as their candidate,” said local leader Surinder Kumar.
Despite this, Rajeev Sharma remains undeterred by the presence of the rebel candidate and expressed confidence that voters will ensure BJP’s victory due to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s development work in the constituency.
The Chhamb constituency has traditionally been a Congress stronghold. Congress has won the seat seven times, while BJP and an Independent candidate have each won it once.
Congress’s Chajju Ram won the seat in 1962 and 1967, followed by Madan Lal Sharma in 1983 and 1987, and Tara Chand in 2002 and 2008. Congress’s Devikar Singh secured the seat in 1972, while Independent Ram Nath and BJP’s Krishen Lal won in 1977 and 2014, respectively.
Residents of the constituency have been demanding improved connectivity, particularly the speedy construction of a bridge over the Chenab River to connect various areas of Khour, Pargwal, and Chhamb.
“The work on the bridge started long ago but remains incomplete. Our main demand is to connect both ends of the river through a bridge. People, employees, and schoolchildren use boats for transportation, which becomes difficult during rain and strong winds,” a teacher Rameshwar Singh of Khour said.
He hopes the new government will complete the bridge swiftly, bringing much-needed relief to the people.
“It will be an intense and interesting contest in the Chhamb constituency. Tara Chand is facing stiff competition… It is not an easy contest,” Arvind Salgotra, a voter from the Khour area, said.
Salgotra, a postgraduate student in political science, remarked that the BJP candidate also faces challenges, with opposition from a local rebel leader.
Apart from these contenders, BSP’s Malkeet Singh and Panthers Party’s Vijay Kumar are also among the eight candidates vying for the seat.
A total of 105,672 voters, including 51,534 women, will cast their ballots at 165 polling stations in the second phase of elections on September 25.
