BJP ropes in NGOs to woo people “+44 Mission Kashmir” SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT Srinagar: Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) has launched a massive but silent campaign to woo ‘influential’ political and social activists ahead of Assembly polls in Kashmir. Besides setting up its unit under party’s direct control, the BJP is using the services of some NGOs and private individuals to help party gain ground in Kashmir. Sources privy to the development say that some individual lawyers, low-key political activists of different parties and self-appointed social activists have agreed to act as party’s surrogates during elections. BJP has set its eyes on coming assembly elections. It has claimed that it would win 44 assembly seats (out of 87 seats) in the elections and would form government in Jammu and Kashmir on its own. The party, no doubt, has substantial presence Hindu-dominated belts of Jammu region where it won both the parliamentary seats in the recently held LS elections. BJP also won the lone seat of Ladakh as well. It has since been trying to establish its base in Muslim dominated Kashmir valley as well. As a part of its strategy the BJP had fielded its candidates in valley’s all the three parliamentary seats but they could not get votes beyond a few thousand. BJP is in contact with Peoples’ Conference chairman Sajjad Lone as well. One of the senior leader of the party J P Nadda has held a series of meetings with Sajjad Lone to forge an alliance or (at least understanding) with him ahead of elections. Sources say that both Nadda and Lone have agreed to hold further meeting to make the ‘understanding’ a possibility. Sources say that BJP is obsessed with a self-belief that the party could win at least three assembly seats in the valley. They, according to BJP estimation, are Sopore, Habakadal and Amirakadal in Srinagar. The BJP think-tank believes that three constituencies would witness boycott from Muslim voters and the outcome of the election would be determined by the Kashmiri Pandits votes. All the three constituencies have good number of Pandit voters. Sources say that BJP is wooing activists in other constituencies as well. They say that dozens of lower-rung political activists have fallen in line with the BJP in Pulwama, Baramullah and Kupwara districts. “They would not be under direct control of the BJP”, says a source “but all that is needed to raise their political profile and electoral fortunes would be taken care of by the BJP”. Sources say that at least two new political outfits are likely to be floated by these proxies in coming days. Reports of setting up of these outfits are already making rounds in political and media circles. Sources, however, are sceptical about the gains BJP is aiming at through this exercise. They say that most of the actors of this farce are naïves with no political experience and influence. “I don’t think that BJP is going to gain anything from it”, says an insider. “The sole motives of all of them (who join the party) is to get monetary benefits”, he says adding “it would expose BJP’s claims it makes with regard to government formation”.
Posted on: Tue, 12 Aug 2014 06:03:03 +0000
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