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Dinesh Manhotra
Tribune News Service
Jammu, July 16
Taking advantage of the prevailing “chaos” among rival political groups, the BJP today formally kick-started preparations for the Assembly elections in the state.
With the target of winning maximum Assembly seats from the Jammu province, the BJP started the campaign from the Muslim majority twin border districts of Poonch and Rajouri, from where the party had won two out of total seven seats in the 2014 Assembly polls and performed badly in the parliamentary elections.
“From today, we have started preparations for the Assembly elections from both Jammu and Kashmir provinces simultaneously,” state president of the BJP, Ravinder Raina, told The Tribune, adding, “The first phase of the 25-day campaign would be completed on August 10.”
Raina, who has started campaign from Rajouri, would focus on the Jammu province, while the party’s general secretary organisation Ashok Koul will concentrate on the Kashmir valley, where the BJP is trying to open its account with the help of the displaced Hindu community’s vote.
Narinder Singh, another general secretary of the party, would be assigned the job of the Ladakh division, comprising four Assembly segments. “Responsibility will be given to senior leaders of all three regions of the state — Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh,” Raina said, exuding confidence that the party would be in a position to form government on its own after the forthcoming Assembly elections.
Buoyed by the victory margin of the party in the recently held Lok Sabha elections, the BJP is hopeful of opening its account in the cold desert of Ladakh. Out of the total four Assembly segments, the BJP had taken lead in three in the parliamentary elections. In the 2014 Lok Sabha, the BJP had won the Ladakh seat by a margin of 36 votes, but the party had failed to open its account in the Assembly polls. This time, the victory margin of the BJP candidate was over 10,000 votes, making the party confident of opening its account in the Assembly elections.
As reported earlier, the BJP has already devised a strategy to make inroads in the Muslim majority Assembly segments of Poonch and Rajouri by luring prominent Pahari and Gujjar leaders.
Plans to open account in Valley
Out of the total 87 Assembly segments, the BJP had taken lead in 30 in the parliamentary elections by winning three Lok Sabha seats with 46.4 per cent votes, the highest among all political parties
In the Jammu region, the BJP had taken lead in 26 of the 37 assembly segments. The party is hoping on the division of votes among the NC, Congress and PDP in the forthcoming Assembly polls to improve its tally
It was the fiirst time that the party had taken lead in one out of total 46 Assembly segments of Kashmir Valley. This time, the party is trying to mobilise the displaced Hindu votes to open account in Valley
Out of the total four Assembly segments of Ladakh, the BJP had taken lead in three with the support of a section of Shia voters
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