Will Pahari Leaders in J&K Join BJP after Reservation?

Amid a political stalemate in Jammu and Kashmir, the buzz these days is that BJP is wooing several Pahari leaders into the party fold after the government granted ST status to the community recently. Reports ETV Bharat's Mir Farhat.

Srinagar: The ruling BJP has opened its doors for Pahari leaders of Jammu and Kashmir by granting them Scheduled Tribe status ahead of the upcoming Parliament elections but at the cost of annoying the Gujjar population in Jammu and Kashmir.

The first leader to switch sides to BJP after the party granted Scheduled Tribe status to Paharis was former MLC of National Conference Dr Shahnaz Ganaie and speculations are rife that more Pahari leaders from Poonch, Rajouri, Kupwara and Karnah are following Ganai's footsteps. Earlier last year dozens of Pahari leaders had joined BJP including former minister Syed Mushtaq Bukhari.

Shahnaz Ganai joined BJP in New Delhi on Monday in the presence of BJP National General Secretary Tarun Chug and minister Dr Jatinder Singh. Shahnaz Ganai, who left NC in 2020, lost the DDC elections to NC candidate Ateeqa Jan from Mandi by a big margin. A medical doctor by profession, Shahnaz joined NC in 2007 after leaving her profession. She was elected as MLC on the Panchayat quota in 2013 by the National Conference.

Shahnaz belongs to political family as her father Ghulam Muhammad Ganaie was a two-time legislator from the Poonch-Haveli assembly segment. Though her joining won't have much political impact for BJP as she has not significant footing in Poonch, many Pahari leaders are joining BJP. Tarun Chug said that more leaders are joining the BJP in coming week as the BJP under the prime minister Narendra Modi's leadership has fulfilled Paharis' decades-old demand.

Speculations are rife many leaders including Shabir Khan, Jahangir Mir, both Congress leaders from Pirpanchal region, advocate Murtaza Khan of PDP, Raja Manzoor, Javed Mirchal of Apni Party from Kashmir are switching over to BJP. Raja Manzoor Khan, who is a Pahari leader from Karnah, which has a majority Pahari population, told ETV Bharat that he is not joining the BJP.

"I welcome ST status to Pahari, but I have not made any commitment to BJP leadership to join their party. I will stay with Apni Party," he said. Shabir Khan, Jahangir Mir, Murtaza Khan could not be reached for their comments. The Paharis are in majority in Nowshera, Kalakote-Sunderbani, Rajouri, Thanmandi, Surankote, Poonch-Haveli, Mendhar, Uri and Karnah assembly segments of J&K.

Political observers say that the BJP granted ST reservation to Paharis and other castes in view of upcoming Parliament elections in India and Jammu and Kashmir. BJP wants to win the Anantnag-Rajouri seats which have significant Pahari and Gujjar votes. This Parliament seat was carved out by delimitation commission last year by rejigging Anantnag and Jammu Parliament seat.

Zafar Choudhary, senior political analyst and author, said Anantnag-Rajouri is a high stakes seat and will define the future course of politics in Jammu and Kashmir. "BJP could be considering a Gujjar candidate rather than a Pahari for Anantnag-Rajouri seat. A good section of Paharis is already committed to vote for BJP. A Gujjar candidate could further brighten the winning prospects and also balance out the social schism between two communities," Choudhary said.

The Pahari reservation has thrown up an interesting challenge for BJP, Congress, National Conference and PDP who ar eyeing the Anantnag-Rajouri seat in the upcoming parliament elections. Which permutations and combinations will work for political parties on this seat, come the parliament elections?

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