In Poonch and Rajouri, BJP tries a balancing act

Dinesh Manhotra

Tribune News Service

Jammu, July 14

Realising that striking a balance among all ethnic groups is important to make inroads in twin border districts of Poonch and Rajouri, the BJP leadership has initiated a process to rope in prominent Pahari Muslims leaders of the belt.

The BJP has already inducted prominent Gujjar faces of the area namely Choudhary Talib Hussain and Abdul Gani Kohli into the party and now its focus is on Pahari leaders.

On July 8, when Congress leader Mohammad Iqbal Malik had joined the BJP, party national general secretary Ram Madhav repeatedly ‘hailed’ him as a prominent Pahari leader of the twin districts to maintain a balance between the two ethnic groups.

Madhav also made it a point to mention that it was all due to assiduous efforts of the BJP that the long-pending demand of granting reservation to Paharis was fulfilled.

Sources said the BJP had devised a strategy to rope in both Gujjar and Pahari leaders of Poonch and Rajouri ahead of the Assembly elections. “On the one hand, the party is vociferously raking up the issue of granting political reservation to the Scheduled Tribes (STs), on the other hand, it is luring some prominent Pahari leaders,” a source in the BJP said, adding, “after Iqbal Malik joined, a couple of other Pahari leaders are in touch with the party”.

The ethnic divide between Paharis and Gujjars is deep in twin districts, so maintaining a balance is important to reap political benefits. Other mainstream parties, namely the Congress, PDP and National Conference, have always maintained an equilibrium between the two ethnic groups hence the BJP too has decided to follow their footsteps to make inroads into the five Muslim-dominated Assembly constituencies of Poonch and Rajouri.

As per the 2011 Census, Gujjars and Bakerwals, who have been granted the ST status, have 40.07% share in the population 4,41,432 in Poonch district. In Rajouri district, the STs constitute 39.18% of the total population of 5,61,021.

Roping in Gujjar and Pahari leaders 

• The BJP has devised a strategy to rope in both Gujjar and Pahari leaders of Poonch and Rajouri ahead of the Assembly elections 
• The ethnic divide between Paharis and Gujjars is deep in twin districts, so maintaining a balance is important to reap political benefits
• After Mohammad Iqbal Malik joined the BJP, a couple of other Pahari leaders are in touch with the party

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