Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Oct 28: A Congress Party’s fact-finding team led by Ravinder Sharma visited Vijaypur, Samba, Kathua, Reasi, and Udhampur Districts to investigate the party’s recent electoral defeat in the Jammu region.
Congress managed to secure only one Assembly seat in Rajouri district of the Jammu region in 2024 Assembly polls. In the 2014 elections, the party won 5 seats in the province.
The team included senior Congress figures, such as Ved Mahajan, Jehangir Mir (former Chairman of the J&K Legislative Council), former MLC Naresh Gupta, and former MLA Dina Nath.
They conducted discussions with party candidates, senior leaders, and district- and block-level functionaries, alongside leaders from Congress’s frontal wings.
According to a statement, the team sought insights from local leaders and workers on factors behind the party’s poor performance, despite public dissatisfaction with the BJP.
Party workers expressed appreciation for Congress’s outreach, voicing confidence in the party’s potential to strengthen its foothold in the region if corrective measures are taken.
Workers assured the team that Congress remains a strong secular and democratic force in Jammu, with the capacity to counter the BJP’s influence if internal challenges are addressed.
During the discussions, some party members alleged that administrative bias played a role in favouring the BJP, citing instances of liquor, ration supplies, and cash being used to sway voters.
The workers also offered suggestions to improve Congress’s reach and influence in areas where it faced setbacks.
The team’s visit attracted prominent Congress leaders across districts. In Kathua, key figures included Pankaj Dogra, Choudhary Lal Singh, Dr Manohar Lal, Kajal Rajput, and Rakesh Chaudhary.
In Samba, leaders such as Yash Pal Kundal, Sanjeev Sharma, Subash Bhagat, BS Sambyal, Babbal Gupta, and Kuber Singh participated in the discussions.
In Reasi, Congress leaders Bhupinder Singh, Mumtaz Khan, Rajesh Sadotra, Rakesh Wazir, Advocate Vijay Sharma, Shobha Sharma and others shared their views.
The discussions in Udhampur saw attendance from Vinod Khajuria, Sumit Mangotra, Mool Raj Bhagat, Shakeel Shah, and a wide array of local leaders and block representatives.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
