In the 2002 Assembly elections, candidates owing allegiance to various RSS-backed outfits fighting for separate statehood for Jammu cut into the vote bank of BJP, ensuring that the latter ended up with just one seat in the recently-dissolved Assembly. That the groups demanding statehood for Jammu could win just one seat — Jammu State Morcha MLA Ashwani Sharma from Bishnah — is another story. However, on many seats, including the prestigious Jammu (West), the combined votes polled by the BJP nominee and the candidate fielded by those for separate statehood was more than the votes secured by the eventual winner.

This time too, despite efforts by senior BJP leaders to enter into some kind of understanding with these RSS-backed groups, they are all set to upset the BJP’s applecart by fielding “strong, winnable” candidates in a majority of seats in the Jammu region. Buoyed by the support that the recent Amarnath Yatra “struggle” received in the entire Jammu region, these groups feel their chances are pretty good.

Leading the pack is the Jammu State Morcha (Progressive), headed by Prof Virender Gupta, who has already upped the ante against the BJP. “The BJP wanted to have its way by forcing an agreement that suited it down our throats. This was not acceptable to us,” Gupta said, adding that this was the main reason why his party decided to have no truck with the BJP.