‘Hold Core Group meeting after every fortnight’
*Normalcy returning, J&K marching towards development
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Mar 7: BJP national president Jagat Prakash Nadda today called upon the BJP leaders to brace up for Assembly elections without waiting for formal announcement and hold Core Group meeting every fortnight here even as he referred to situation returning towards normalcy in Kashmir and the BJP Government revoking special status of Jammu and Kashmir to make it integral part of the country.
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On his first visit to Jammu and Kashmir after becoming the party’s national president and abrogation of Articles 370 and 35-A, Nadda visited holy cave shrine of Mata Vaishno Devi Ji and then addressed a meeting of 100-odd party leaders including UT office bearers, former MLAs and MLCs, district Incharges, Morcha presidents and other senior leaders.
He was accompanied by Union Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) Dr Jitendra Singh, BJP national general secretaries Tarun Chug, Incharge Jammu and Kashmir and Vinod Tawde, Narinder Singh, national secretary and Ravinder Raina, UT chief among others.
The BJP president couldn’t chair the Core Group meeting as he reached Katra, venue of the meeting, late by two hours due to technical snag in the plane at New Delhi.
Insiders in the BJP said Nadda, while addressing the party leaders, called upon them to hold Core Group meeting after every fortnight for four to five hours for in-depth review of political situation and party affairs.
Though the BJP national president didn’t directly mention the conduct of Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir the indications were clear when he called upon the party leaders to hold Core Group meeting twice a month.
He reportedly told the party leaders that they should be ready for the “political challenges” every time in Jammu and Kashmir.
Nadda said the BJP has to give its best performance in all fields.
“Now, there has been lot of improvement in the situation in the Kashmir valley but our leaders and workers were active there even under tough circumstances. They continued to work in the Valley when others were silent,” the BJP chief is reported to have said.
Sharing his experiences of 1991 during Ekta Yatra of then BJP president Murli Manohar Joshi for hoisting tricolor at Lal Chowk Srinagar, Nadda said: “Now Articles 370 and 35-A have been removed and Jammu and Kashmir has become an integral part of India”.
He appreciated the party leaders from the Kashmir valley for their work among the people despite tough circumstances.
He also referred to development in Jammu and Kashmir post abrogation of special status of erstwhile State saying there was just one Government Medical College in Jammu but now there are Medical Colleges at the district level.
Calling upon the party leaders for continued introspection and work at grassroots level, Nadda said the BJP was the only party which remained among the people during tough COVID times and assisted the people in best possible manner.
A BJP handout said Nadda shared his experiences in Jammu & Kashmir when he discharged his organizational duties here. He thoroughly explained the organizational working with the senior party leaders while asking the party leaders to work for strengthening the booth structure.
He said that a BJP activist never takes rest and works whole year for the common masses.
Nadda congratulated all residents of J&K for braving hostile conditions in social and economic fields. He also congratulated the BJP activists of J&K while praising party activists who strived in odd conditions in valley to strengthen the organisational structure.
He said that the BJP as an organization has come a long way to become a major political party. He attributed this to the dedication and zeal of party activists.
Nadda said that with the collective efforts of all party activists, the future has laid responsibility on us to contribute for a stronger Nation.
Earlier, Nadda arrived in Jammu on a day’s visit to a rousing welcome, his first visit to the region after the abrogation of Article 370 and its bifurcation into two Union territories in August 2019.
He along with his family paid obeisance at the cave shrine of Mata Vaishnodevi in Trikuta Hills of Reasi district during his day-long visit.
Nadda got a rousing reception as hundreds of youth BJP workers and party leaders led by J-K BJP chief Ravinder Raina received him at Jammu airport.
Amid sloganeering in favour of the BJP and Nadda, the party’s national chief stopped his vehicle and received garlands, flowers and shawls from the enthusiastic workers.
He, however, did not speak to media.
Nadda along with his family, Dr Jitendra Singh, Tarun Chug, Vinod Tawde and Ravinder Raina paid obeisance at the cave shrine.
Nadda’s visit to the shrine came after recently-held elections in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Manipur and Goa, with counting of votes scheduled for March 10.
Raina said the visit of the BJP national president assumes significance as elections to Jammu Kashmir Assembly are expected to take place later this year after the finalisation of the Delimitation Commission report.
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