For first time, party breaks tradition, appoints Jammu leader as youth president
Arteev Sharma
Jammu: In what is being seen as a shift in its political strategy, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has begun efforts to expand its footprint in Hindu-dominated belts of Jammu, where the party’s political acceptability has remained under question.
The move is seen as an attempt to realign the party’s outreach and strengthen its presence in the region where the party failed to open its account in the last assembly elections.
In a clear departure from its traditional approach, the party has, for the first time, appointed a leader from Jammu, Aditya Gupta, as president of its youth wing. The post had traditionally been held by leaders from Kashmir, reflecting the party’s primary support base.
Gupta’s elevation is being viewed as an effort to bridge the regional and political divide, besides establishing a stronger foothold in the Jammu belt where the PDP has so far struggled to make inroads.
Party insiders say the leadership has conveyed clear directions to its cadre—especially the youth wing—to aggressively take up local issues in Jammu and build a strong connect with the masses.
As part of this plan, the newly appointed youth president has launched a scathing attack on both the ruling National Conference (NC)-led government and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), accusing both of neglecting the Jammu region’s economic and developmental concerns.
In a strongly worded post on the social media platform ‘X’, Gupta highlighted growing unease in the business and tourism sectors of Jammu after the start of train connectivity to Kashmir.
“As train connectivity to Kashmir begins, a deep sense of anxiety has taken over Jammu’s tourism & business sectors, fearing they’ll be bypassed and erased from the trade & tourism map,” Gupta wrote.
Taking direct aim at elected representatives from Jammu, he added, “While @BJP4JnK MLAs continue to remain spineless despite Jammu electing them, unfortunately, even the @OmarAbdullah-led govt seems in no mood to address the concerns, with ministers from Jammu division @Surinderch55 & @satishsharmajnk more interested in social media reels.”
Political analysts believe this shift signals the PDP’s renewed ambition to reclaim relevance in the Jammu region, especially at a time when both NC and BJP are allegedly facing backlash from sections of the public over what is perceived as growing marginalisation of Jammu in the broader developmental agenda.
It is important to mention here that the founder of the PDP and former Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed always focused on the Jammu region to make inroads in the Hindu majority areas. In 1985, he managed to enter the state assembly after winning a by-election in Ranbir Singh Pura in Jammu. Mufti was the only politician of J&K since 1947, who, despite being a Kashmiri, had won election from the Jammu region, thus bulldozing the wall of the regional divide in the State. Nearly nine years after the demise of its founder, the incumbent leadership has decided to focus on Hindu majority areas.
