New Delhi: The BJP may not be contesting any of the three Lok Sabha seats in Kashmir but the party is confident that the elections in the Valley will end the domination of the National Conference and People’s Democratic Party in the region.
A day before Srinagar goes to the polls, BJP national general secretary Tarun Chugh claimed on Sunday that the Narendra Modi government’s development initiatives following the abrogation of Article 370 coupled with peace in the region have ensured that people are looking beyond family-run parties like the two regional outfits besides the Congress.
“These parties are responsible for all the turmoil Jammu and Kashmir went through right from the 90s when terrorism erupted and lakhs of Kashmiri Pandits had to flee their homes.
“People know that be it the PDP, NC or the Congress, their concerns are not the priority of these parties as they only want to perpetuate their family rule,” said Chugh, who is overseeing his party’s campaign in Ladakh and Telangana.
The Congress had jailed NC founder Sheikh Abdullah for over two decades but his son and grandson, Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah, have joined hands with the same party, he said, adding that this underlines their “hunger for power and desperation”.
Asked why the BJP is not contesting any of the three seats in the Valley, he said the party has been able to strike a chord with people with the works of the Centre and has exposed the entrenched political parties.
Sources said the BJP believes that its best hopes lie in a good performance by former minister Altaf Bukhari-led Apni Party and Sajad Gani Lone’s People’s Conference as the demographics of the Muslim-majority Valley are not very suited to the party.
It is the first major election in Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, in August 2019. Nearly 17.48 lakh electorate are eligible to vote in the election to the prestigious Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency and 24 candidates are in the fray.
Two other Kashmir seats, Baramulla and Anantnag-Rajouri, are headed for the polls in the fifth and sixth phases on May 20 and May 25 respectively.
PDP leader and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti is contesting from Anantnag-Rajouri, while NC’s Omar Abdullah, also a former CM, is in the fray from Baramulla.
Chugh said, “We are sure that the NC, PDP and the Congress will not get people’s support. They have built their politics over dead bodies.”
He also expressed confidence that the BJP will continue its winning streak in Ladakh, where it has fielded Tashi Gyalson in place of sitting MP Jamyang Tsering Namgyal.
