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Shah rallies show change in Jammu and Kashmir’s mindset: BJP leaders
As the process of finalising the electoral rolls is underway, the party is hopeful that the welfare programmes of the Union government will change the fortunes of the party in the UT.
The turnout at Union home minister Amit Shah’s rally in Jammu & Kashmir’s Rajouri and Baramulla areas this week is an indicator of the changed perception in the region about the Union government, the popularity of its welfare policies, and points to the beginning of a new political process in the Union Territory, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders said on Thursday.
As the process of finalising the electoral rolls is underway, the party is hopeful that the welfare programmes of the Union government will change the fortunes of the party in the UT, the leaders indicated.
The process to finalise the electoral rolls is expected to be completed by November, paving the way for assembly elections in the UT -- the first such electoral exercise in the region after Parliament passed the Jammu & Kashmir Reorganisation Bill in 2019 that led to the bifurcation of the erstwhile state (into J&K and Ladakh) and the effective abrogation of Article 370 that gave the region its “special status”.
“The draft of the electoral rolls has to be submitted by November 15, and the final list should be ready by the end of the month, once that is complete the election commission will be able to take a call on the election schedule taking into account the climatic and security situation,” said a senior government functionary speaking on condition of anonymity.
The rolls are currently being verified to ascertain the eligibility of those enrolling as voters, the official added.
It was, however, the reception at Shah’s rally in Baramulla in North Kashmir on Wednesday -- the first such by a Union minister after a gap of over three decades -- that the party saw as a big positive sign.
“The turnout and the reception to the minister’s speech have put to rest perceptions about alienation towards the government. The change in people’s stance towards the government is an outcome of the benefits they accrued from the central schemes such as the Ujjwala Yojna -- women in the higher reaches are now given two cylinders instead of one -- and other facilities have made a difference to their lives,” said the party functionary.
While regional satraps, the National Conference and the Peoples Democratic Party, have expressed concerns over the delimitation process and electoral rolls, and have filed petitions against the nullification of Article 370, a second BJP functionary said measures such as opening of cinema halls in the Valley after three decades, the implementation of reservation for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, and other welfare policies have created confidence in the Union government.
The BJP leaders also said the party will contest the elections without any allies or pre-poll arrangements. “We will contest the elections on our own,” said the first party functionary, stressing that the BJP will not have a pre-poll arrangement with former Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad’s recently launched Democratic Azad Party.
