By IANS,
Jammu : Some contenders who contested the two seats of Jammu region in the Lok Sabha elections are confident of their win, while others are hoping to get by with a little help from god, as the country gets ready to count the votes Saturday.
There are over a dozen candidates contesting from both Jammu-Poonch and Udhampur-Kathua constituencies but in both the cases the contest is primarily between the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
National Conference (NC), the major constituent of the ruling coalition in the state did not field candidates for these two seats in Jammu while the Congress has no nominees for the three seats in the Valley.
In Jammu the main contest is between BJP’s Leela Karan Sharma and the Congress party’s Madan Lal Sharma. The latter is a sitting MP while the former was earlier convenor of the Amarnath Yatra Sangarsh Samiti that spearheaded the agitation in Jammu last summer for restoration of government land to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board.
Though Leela Karan Sharma was the main man behind the agitation yet he himself has not visited Amarnath Shrine – the mythological abode of Hindu god Shiva nestled in the mountains of south Kashmir.
“I have not been to Amarnath so far. I tried going there by helicopter last year but could not. Now, since I am confident of my win, I will visit the shrine as I will have privileges as an MP.”
All the candidates told IANS that they would start the day tomorrow (the election result day) with special prayers.
“I pray daily but Saturday morning I will get up early around 4 a.m. and conduct special prayers,” said Nirmal Singh, the BJP candidate from Udhampur constituency.
Choudhary Lal Singh, who is the sitting MP from the Udhampur constituency is confident of his win.
“I know god’s blessing and the support of people are with me,” Singh said.
The administration has stepped up security around the counting centres of both the constituencies. Counting of votes for Jammu would be held in MAM college, Jammu while that of Udhampur would be held in Degree College, Kathua.