* Party asked to undertake internal exercise
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Sept 25: BJP national president Amit Shah would hold separate meeting with Jammu and Kashmir’s Ministers, Members of Parliament (MPs), legislators (both MLAs and MLCs), State office bearers and senior party leaders in next few days to discuss ways and means to strengthen working of PDP-BJP coalition Government and working of party in the State.
“Such a meeting was being anticipated today after the conclusion of National Executive in New Delhi but due to hectic schedule of Amit Shah, it didn’t materialize,” party sources said, adding the meeting was now scheduled to be held within a week’s time as the BJP high command wants to strengthen both the State Government as well as organization.
Though majority of senior BJP leaders from Jammu and Kashmir were present in the Union capital today to attend to meetings including the National Executive and concluding function of Pt Deendayal Upadhyaya centenary year celebrations, they couldn’t meet Amit Shah due to party president’s hectic schedule.
However, according to sources, the senior party leaders did meet on sidelines of the National Executive to review performances of the PDP-BJP coalition Government and party especially resentment voiced by some senior party leaders against “work culture” of few Ministers in all three regions of the State.
Sources said the senior party leaders were unanimous that they first had to conduct an “internal exercise” within the State on their own before meeting Amit Shah and apprising him on steps required to set things right at both organization and Government levels.
“Unless such an exercise is conducted within the party, it would be premature to meet national president,” sources pointed out and said senior party leaders would form their opinion before meeting Shah in New Delhi in the next few days.
After four-day visit of Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to Jammu and Kashmir during which, several delegations from different organizations as well as BJP’s own leaders voiced resentment against working of PDP-BJP coalition Government as well as the party leadership, the national high command had rushed BJP general secretaries Ram Lal (Organization) and Ram Madhav, Incharge Jammu and Kashmir to the State to take stock of the situation.
Both the leaders have briefed the national party president on Jammu and Kashmir situation. Shah himself had visited Jammu for three days in April and had detailed deliberations on working of party’s first ever coalition Government with PDP as well as strengthening BJP in the entire State.
Sources said with Parliament elections just one and a half years away, the BJP didn’t want to take any chances with functioning of the party as it wants to strengthen organization on all three regions of the State including Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh to retain all three Lok Sabha seats it had won in 2014 polls and try to gain another.
It may be mentioned here that several senior leaders of the party have voiced their strong resentment over working of some of the Ministers, both in Cabinet and Minister of State ranks, as well as some leaders at the organizational level saying they had lost touch with grass root level party workers in the State, during their meetings with Rajnath Singh, Ram Lal and Ram Madhav.
The BJP leaders from Jammu and Kashmir, who attended the National Council and concluding function of Pt Deen Dayal Upadhyaya centenary year, included Union Minister of State in Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) Dr Jitendra Singh, Deputy Chief Minister Dr Nirmal Singh, State president Sat Sharma CA, BJP general secretary (organization) Ashok Koul, Jugal Kishore Sharma, Ashok Khajuria, all MPs, MLAs and MLCs of the party and other senior leaders.
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