PM Modi's rally in Jammu today: Five key political points ahead of 2024 Lok Sabha elections

Prime Minister Narendra Modi rally in Jammu on February 20 will be his third public event at the Maulana Azad Stadium since 2013.

PM Modi will inaugurate various projects, including AIIMS, Jammu, world’s highest railway bridge over Chenab, and north India’s first river rejuvenation project — Devika river project — in Udhampur, apart from addressing the rally.

Deja Vu at MA Stadium, Jammu

Way back in 2013, after the then Gujarat Chief Minister was declared as BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi addressed the “Lalkar Rally” at Jammu's MA Stadium on December 1, 2013. The rally attended by over one lakh people is remembered as the biggest-ever political gathering in the history of Jammu and Kashmir. It was credited for BJP winning three Lok Sabha seats, two in Jammu and one in Ladakh, in the 2014 elections, an all time high by the party in the erstwhile state. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections BJP again won three Lok Sabha seats - Jammu, Udhampur and Ladakh.

In that rally Modi had famously called for a general discussion over Article 370 of the Indian constitution, which granted special status to the erstwhile state, and was revoked by his government on August 5, 2019. "Article 370 has become a shield and is being used as one. It has been armored with communal jewels and just because of this, a valid discussion on it is not happening. I want the experts of the Constitution to discuss it.? Shouldn't the injustice stop,” Modi had said to his audience then," Modi had said then.

Addressing the youth, Modi had at the 2013 rally asked why J&K didn't have national institutions of learning like IITs and IIMs. Over ten years later, PM Modi will be inaugurating or laying the foundation stone of a few national-level educational institutions including IIM - Jammu.

Boost 'ease of living'

Overall, PM Modi is slated to lay the foundation and inaugurate over 200 developmental projects worth ₹30,500 crore, besides delivering virtual job letters to youth and interacting with people across the UT during the February 20 event.

“A big boost to all-round development! I look forward to being in Jammu tomorrow, 20th February to inaugurate key development works which will boost ‘Ease of Living.’ It will also be a landmark day for the education sector as various institutions including IITs and IIMs will get permanent campuses," PM Modi wrote on X.

A similar rally was addressed by PM Modi at the same venue on December 16, 2014, ahead of Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections. Many observers said that it was the result of the PM Modi's campaign and the rally at MA Stadium that the BJP created history by winning an all-time high 25 assembly seats in Jammu region. This performance paved way for BJP to becoming part of the allince government in J&K with the PDP.

Scripting a new chapter

The BJP leaders believed the February 20 rally of the Prime Minister at MA Stadium would script a new chapter in the history of the party in the UT in the upcoming elections. That is precisely why the BJP undeterred by inclement weather, has pulled out all the stops to ensure a grand success for the rally . Top-quality waterproof sheds and other arrangements have been put in place at the Maulana Azad Stadium to accommodate over 1 lakh people, according to local media reports.

While 70,000 chairs are being arranged for seating within the ground, the stairs surrounding the stadium, with a capacity of 25,000, have also been covered with waterproof shelters, the reports said

"With these arrangements, we are confident that PM Modi's rally will be the biggest ever held in J&K," Vikram Randhawa, former MLC and in-charge of the rally told media.

Bolster BJP prospects

The visit, Modi's second to the Union Territory in his second term as PM, assumes significance not only because of political fervour sweeping across the country ahead of April-May Lok Sabha polls but it is also crucial considering the frozen political activities in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. The UT has been under Central rule since June 2018 when the Bharatiya Janata Party-People's Democratic Party alliance government collapsed. The last Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir were held in 2014.

Political observers say that the rally is an attempt by the BJP to bolster its poll prospects for the upcoming general elections, first after abrogation of Article 370 in 2019, and scheduled assembly elections later. Since Ladakh is a separate UT now, the saffron party has two Lok Sabha members from the Jammu region, while the three parliamentary seats in the Valley are with Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (JKNC). 

This time, however, the BJP is eyeing increase its tally. With certain areas of Poonch and Rajouri districts of Jammu region clubbed in the newly carved Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha seat of south Kashmir, the BJP is hopeful of making inroads in the Valley through this seat and take its overall tally in the UT to at least three seats. 

Development Agenda

The inauguration of spate of developmental projects by PM Modi comes weeks ahead of election commission's model code of conduct (MCC) coming into place ahead of Lok Sabha polls. The MCC puts a ban on inauguration of projects once it is implemented.

The PM is scheduled to launch multiple development projects, including for education, railway, aviation, and road sectors, worth over ₹32,000 crore. He will also distribute appointment orders to about 1,500 new Jammu and Kashmir government recruits and interact with beneficiaries of various government schemes as part of the 'Viksit Bharat Viksit Jammu' program. He will inaugurate Jammu's All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Samba district during his visit.

The Prime Minister will also lay the foundation stone for a new terminal building at Jammu Airport and dedicate to the nation various rail projects in Jammu and Kashmir including the new rail line between Banihal-Khari-Sumber-Sangaldan. He will also flag off the first Electric Train in the valley and also train service between Sangaldan station and Baramulla station.