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J&K Polls: Expelled from AAP, ex-MLA BS Mankotia joins BJP in Delhi
Balwant Singh Mankotia along with former MLA Yash Paul Kundal and over 700 sarpanches, panches, BDC chairman, and DDC members had joined AAP in New Delhi in April this year
Following his unceremonious exit from Aam Admi Party (AAP) on September 23, former two-time MLA from Udhampur assembly constituency, Balwant Singh Mankotia, joined BJP in Delhi on Thursday in the presence of national president JP Nadda, union minister Dr Jitendra Singh, J&K BJP president Ravinder Raina and other party leaders.
The BJP leaders welcomed Mankotia, a former president of the Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party, into the BJP at the party’s headquarters in Delhi.
“There are many reasons to join the BJP but recently demand from every section of the society in J&K was announcing a public holiday on the birth anniversary of Maharaja Hari Singh—the visionary Dogra king, who signed the instrument of accession with India. However, AAP had categorically asked us to stay away from the issue and subsequent celebrations on September 23. The AAP leadership issued a termination notice on September 23 on the day of celebrations,” said Mankotia
“I had thought that the day BJP announces public holiday on Maharaja’s birth anniversary, I would join the BJP. Further, the founder of Panthers Party prof Bhim Singh had the vision to reunite PoJK with Jammu and Kashmir and I feel the BJP is the only party that can take it to a logical conclusion,” he added.
He said that following discussions with his colleagues and supporters, he had decided to join the BJP, which eventually happened on Thursday.
He thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, home minister Amit Shah and BJP president JP Nadda and assured to work for the party, society and nation.
BJP it seems is a divided house in Udhampur district, between Pawan Khajuria and Pawan Gupta.
Sources in the BJP said Mankotia’s induction, a two-time former MLA, is a direct warning to the two warring factions to bury their difference and mend their ways before the assembly elections, which are likely to be held in 2023.
The Udhampur district has four assembly constituencies following the delimitation exercise this year in May. They are Udhampur East, Udhampur West, Chenani and Ramnagar.
Zafar Choudhary, a political analyst, said, “Today’s development should be seen from BJP’s perspective. They want maximum possibilities to form a government on their own and therefore, their focus is on every single constituency and on leaders with a winnability quotient. They have to eliminate the threat and deny the possibility to other parties to be able to win. Now, Mankotia was given party ticket or not at the next elections was a secondary thing but BJP’s aim, as of today, is to eliminate the possibility of other parties to win”.
On September 24, a day after his acrimonious exit from AAP, Mankotia had threatened to file a defamation suit against AAP leaders, including their J&K election in-charge Harjot Singh Bains and other leaders for tarnishing his image.
He had said that a conspiracy was hatched against him to politically murder him
On April 8 this year, Mankotia along with former MLA Yash Paul Kundal and over 700 sarpanches, panches, BDC chairman, and DDC members joined AAP in New Delhi.
On February 10 last year, Mankotia quit the post of Panthers Party president and its basic membership following serious differences with his cousin and former minister Harsh Dev Singh, who remained chairman of the Panthers Party. He also later quit the Panthers Party to join AAP on May 7 this year in Delhi.
