BJP single largest in Valley: Thakur

Excelsior Correspondent

Srinagar, Oct 25: After securing 72 blocks out of 128 in recently conducted Block Development Council (BDC) elections, the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) today said that it has now emerged as a single largest party in the Valley.
Talking to the reporters on the sidelines of the party celebration organized at party headquarters here in Srinagar, Altaf Thakur, BJP’s state spokesperson said that with the culmination of second tier of BDC elections, the flag of BJP has stood tall in the J&K.
“It is doing rounds of the media here that the BJP has been sent on the back-foot, but I am telling you that we have emerged as single largest party in Kashmir as we have recorded victory on 72 seats out of 128,” Thakur said.
He said that other parties that apparently boycotted the elections, had fielded their proxies everywhere.
“If on 72 blocks, 528 candidates are contesting that means that other parties are also contesting elections. It has come out yesterday that Congress, PDP, National Conference had fielded their proxy candidates everywhere. It is a different question that they had to face defeat. There was no boycott, but there were proxies from all the parties,” he said.
Impressing that people during BDC elections have voted for the development he said: “They have been misleading people for last 70 years, and that they carried on with the same this time also. But the voter this time knows everything. The 95 per cent polling that has been witnessed projects that they have been negated. The voter has preferred development over other things.”
Avtar Singh, elected BDC Chairman Tral, while talking to the reporters said that he feels motivated “because we have at our back Prime Minister Modi as he is committed for the safety and the development of the people of Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.