Jammu And Kashmir Assembly Elections: BJP To Focus On Jammu; To Highlight 'Decades Of Neglect Faced By Region'

With the much anticipated Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections, which are being held after a decade, weeks away, the ruling BJP is focusing on Jammu region where it will highlight the "benefits Jammu has received following the abrogation of Article 370", which gave special status to erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state. The party is also banking on its traditional Hindutva and nationalism planks, reports ETV Bharat's Mohd Ashraf Ganie.

Jammu (Jammu and Kashmir): In the much-anticipated Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, which are taking place after a decade, the Bharatiya Janata Party is once again placing its emphasis on the Jammu division to retain power. The party plans to highlight the long-standing preference given to the Kashmir Valley over Jammu as a key issue, alongside prominently raising the abrogation of Article 370 and Article 35A.

Reliable sources told ETV Bharat that the strategies were decided during few significant meetings held on Friday, Saturday and Sunday in Dehli

The first meeting took place between BJP leaders on Friday in dehli at the residence of Home Minister Amit Shah. The marathon meeting was attended by top party leaders including Ram Madhav and G Kishan Reddy, who have been given important roles in the party. Another meeting was held at the residence of BJP President JP Nadda, where Amit Shah was also present, along with the Jammu & Kashmir core committee as per sources. The discussion also touched upon the criteria for selecting candidates and on Sunday the BJP's Central Election Committee met in the national capital on Sunday (August 25) to finalise the party's candidates for the upcoming assembly polls. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president JP Nadda were joined by other CEC members, including Home Minister Amit Shah, as they deliberated with party leaders from Jammu and Kashmir.
According to party sources, it was decided that the election strategy would once again be focused on the Jammu division. The party's strategists believe that if the BJP performs well in this division, as it did in 2014, it will again play the role of kingmaker in this election. The party plans to emphasize the changes in the Jammu division after the abrogation of Article 370, and highlight the “decades of neglect faced by the region” under the National Conference, PDP, and Congress.

As per sources, to ensure a strong performance in the Jammu division, the BJP will focus on Hindutva and nationalism. The party will inform voters about the benefits Jammu has received following the abrogation of Article 370 as per party sources. During the campaign, the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) will also be a key issue. For the first time, Scheduled Tribe (ST) reservations have been implemented in the Assembly elections, and the party has arranged representation for Kashmiri Pandits. These will be major issues in the elections campaign of BJP as well.

The BJP's top leadership has reportedly decided to focus less on the Kashmir division for the upcoming election campaign. They plan to minimize the number of BJP candidates in Kashmir, with only 5 to 7 BJP tickets to be issued. Instead, the party is considering supporting independent candidates in the region rather than fielding its own candidates. This strategy may be aimed at maximizing influence or navigating complex political dynamics in Kashmir.

Sources said that the BJP leadership has decided to avoid granting tickets to top senior leaders in the Jammu Division, including former ministers. This could be a strategic move to introduce fresh faces or change the dynamics within the party. Significantly, on Monday, the party's list of 44 candidates for the Jammu and Kashmir assembly polls, which the party later withdrew, reportedly caused an internal rift after top leaders including former Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh, Kavinder Gupta and even President of the J-K BJP, Ravinder Raina were dropped from the list.

The 90-member assembly of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir is going to the polls in three phases on September 18 and 25 and October 1. The 90-member assembly of Haryana will go to the polls on October 1.

The counting of votes is scheduled for October 4. In the last assembly elections held in 2014, when Jammu and Kashmir was a full-fledged state, the BJP had won 25 seats. The party is making all out efforts to fend off the challenge from a resurgent Congress, which has tied up with the National Conference, especially in the Jammu region, a BJP bastion since 2014.