BJP initiates strategy to counter opposition’s tirade for not contesting 3 Kashmir seats

Chugh reaches Sgr; holds discussions with party leaders to gather inputs

Jammu: Facing criticism for not nominating candidates in three parliamentary seats of Kashmir Valley, the BJP leadership has initiated the exercise to devise a “detailed and comprehensive” strategy to counter, what they see, as “opposition’s propaganda” and, to bring out its supporters and voters from a state of utter confusion and uncertainty.
Sources within the BJP told The News Now that the party’s J&K in-charge Tarun Chugh arrived in Srinagar on Tuesday to engage in thorough discussions with party officials. These discussions, both in person and over the phone, aimed to assess the current political landscape, particularly in light of the opposition’s tirade against the BJP’s decision not to contest all three seats in the Kashmir Valley.
Sources said Chugh was briefed on the concerns regarding the confusion among party workers, supporters, and voters due to the party’s silence on its strategy regarding the declaration of support for candidates in the three Lok Sabha seats of the Kashmir Valley, including the newly formed Anantnag-Rajouri segment.
Sources further said, “Chugh also interacted with senior functionaries of the party in Kashmir valley and took their input and feedback, essential for crafting a detailed strategy to counter opposition parties, particularly National Conference and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)” which have accused the saffron party of fighting proxy poll in Kashmir through different political symbols.
“The party’s J&K in-charge also had thorough discussions with senior leaders of BJP in Jammu over the phone. It is expected that he may have more review meetings in Srinagar tomorrow morning before flying back to New Delhi,” sources said.
It may be placed here that the BJP supporters in Kashmir Valley as well in the twin districts of Rajouri and Poonch find themselves in a state of utter confusion due to the party’s failure to publicly support any particular party or candidate for the three seats in the Kashmir Valley. This is because the BJP has not fielded any candidate on three Lok Sabha seats of Kashmir.
The BJP supporters and voters, particularly those belonging to the Pahari community, who had pledged their support to the party following the grant of Scheduled Tribe (ST) status by the Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre, were eager to reciprocate by voting in favour of the BJP. They had hoped that the party would at least nominate a candidate for the Anantnag-Rajouri seat. However, their expectations were dashed when the party opted out of contesting any seat in Kashmir.
The Pahari community is still awaiting a clear announcement from the BJP’s leadership on this matter to end the confusion caused by the party’s silence. Different groups of Pahari community, however, have also expressed their allegiance with other political parties following the BJP’s failure to unravel its strategy in public.
The election to the Anantnag-Rajouri seat, which was scheduled to go to polls in the third phase on May 7, has been deferred to May 25.
Similarly, Kashmiri Pandits are also uncertain about the BJP’s strategy regarding the elections, especially after the removal of the cumbersome process of filling M Forms for voting. They had anticipated significant participation in the Lok Sabha polls this time but are now unsure due to the lack of clarity from the BJP.
Meanwhile, leaders of the National Conference (NC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have been criticizing the BJP for allegedly supporting proxy candidates in Kashmir. Various regional parties are engaged in a blame game, labeling their opponents as “stooges of the BJP” Recently, the NC vice president Omar Abdullah accused the J&K Apni Party and the Peoples Conference of being the “A and B teams of the BJP” following a meeting between Tarun Chugh and Altaf Bukhari, with Sajad Lone also present.

Updated On 5/8/2024 12:59:51 AM