The announcement of the Jammu & Kashmir assembly election — the first since the abrogation of Article 370 and 35A — is likely to be made “soon after” August 19, when the month-long Amarnath Yatra comes to an end. The BJP has started to warm up to the extent of discussing its manifesto where it is likely to promise to snatch back Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
There was a crucial meeting of the BJP on Thursday in Delhi attended by party president JP Nadda, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and representatives from the state BJP where Shah has asked the state leadership to “be ready” for polls, say sources.
Sources also claimed that there will not be any pre-poll alliance and the BJP will fight in all 90 seats. After delimitation, the total seats of J&K rose to 114 of which 24 seats fall under Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
However, sources told News18 that the BJP remains “open” to post-poll alliance with “like-minded parties”.
The BJP will also not go to polls with any chief ministerial face, add sources. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be the face of the campaign like in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh or the Rajasthan assembly election.
The BJP top brass has also asked its state leadership to start brainstorming over the manifesto where taking back PoK is likely to feature prominently. The BJP is also likely to use the legacy of Maharaja Hari Singh — the Hindu king of the erstwhile princely estate who decided to join India — in its manifesto.
Meanwhile, in another meeting held in Jammu, attended by BJP’s J&K election in-charge G Kishen Reddy and Prabhari Tarun Chugh, the latter has asked the unit to “capitalise” on the electoral loss of PDP’s Mehbooba Mufti in Anantnag-Rajouri and National Conference’s Omar Abdullah in Baramullah seats in the recently concluded Lok Sabha election.
The BJP will strongly raise the J&K Bank Scam and the Roshni scam issues during the campaign, according to sources.
Amid a series of activities, JP Nadda will be in Jammu on Saturday where he will address J&K BJP’s working committee.
Earlier, in an interview with news agency PTI in May, Shah promised to conduct J&K polls before September 30 which will be followed by restoration of its statehood — a long-standing demand ever since 2019 when J&K was split into two parts and turned into Union Territories.
“With the Lok Sabha election in J&K concluded, the next step is the assembly election, which we will conduct before the Supreme Court’s deadline,” said Shah in May. On December 11 last year, the Supreme Court directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to hold elections in J&K by September 30, 2024.
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