Amidst coalition bickering, BJP chief in Jammu today

Bivek Mathur

JAMMU: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) National President Amit Shah will be reaching Jammu on Saturday on a two-day visit as he sets off on a 95-day all-India tour during which he will strategize on ways to win the 2019 Lok Sabha election, with focus on clinching 120 seats where the party had lost in 2014.
Shah will be visiting Jammu and Kashmir for the third time after becoming BJP National president.
Earlier, Shah visited Kathua in August 2014 and Banihal in November 2014 to address political gatherings while campaigning for the Legislative Assembly polls.
His visit is important since Shah would be visiting Jammu and Kashmir for the first time since the party formed a coalition government with PDP in 2015.
Shah is likely to recommendsome changes in the state council of ministers and if sources are to be believed, he may propose the induction of Choudhary Sukhnandan, Ashok Khajuria and one MLA by dropping at least two Cabinet Ministers and one Minister of State (MoS).
Shah will meet the MPs from JK, state Cabinet Ministers and Ministers of State, legislators from both houses, Vice-Chairmen of Advisory Boards, party office bearers, state and district executives and workers at the International Convention Centre (ICC) at Canal Road, Jammu.
According to sources in state BJP, Shah will take first hand report of the party’s functioning and performance in Jammu and Kashmir from state BJP leaders.
“He will also take BJP workers’ feedback on the performance of party’s ministers and the time they took in addressing public grievances in the last over two years,” sources said.
Later in the day, he will have lunch at Deputy Chief Minister, Dr Nirmal Singh’s residence with MoS in PMO, Dr Jitendra Singh, Avinash Rai Khanna and other senior party leaders.
In the evening, he would again hold some closed-door meetings with civil society members and some deputations of BJP leaders.
Sources said that the main aim of meeting civil society members would be to get feedback about the party’s performance in Jammu and Kashmir, especially Jammu Region, and to know the sufferings of the common man and the satisfaction level with the working of state BJP.
On Sunday, Shah will again hold closes-door meeting with state BJP leaders, including MPs, at the party headquarters in Trikuta Nagar.
Sources said that Shah may recommend some changes in the council of ministers on the basis of the reports of the party leaders, workers and civil society members.
Shah is also scheduled to address party leaders and tell them about the roadmap to be followed in jammu and Kashmir.
Media entry is barred both at ICC and Party Headquarters and it has been made clear that he will not address media.
On May 1, 2017, Shah will fly back to Delhi.