Will chair Core Group meet, interact with office bearers, others
Party may not go for pre-poll alliance
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Mar 3: BJP national president JP Nadda will be visiting Jammu on March 7 to meet senior party leaders including Core Group in what is being seen as party’s preparations for upcoming Assembly elections in the Union Territory expected to be held by the year end.
This will be Nadda’s first visit to Jammu and Kashmir in a little over two years after taking over as the party’s national president on January 21, 2020.
The visit comes close on the heels of very significant statement given by Union Home Minister Amit Shah recently that Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir will be held within six to eight months after the Delimitation Commission submits its findings. The Panel now has May 6 deadline for giving the report.
Insiders in the BJP told the Excelsior that during his first visit to Jammu and Kashmir after taking over as the party president, Nadda will straightway visit the holy cave shrine of Mata Vaishno Devi Ji to take blessings of the Goddess.
On his return, he will meet senior party leaders of the Jammu and Kashmir unit and review political situation with them with regard to party’s preparations for Assembly elections in the Union Territory.
He will chair the Core Group meeting and have separate interaction with party’s office bearers. He will also interact with Prabharis and Seh Prabharis of the districts and Morchas of the BJP.
He will return to the Union capital the same evening as counting for Assembly elections of five States including Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur is scheduled to be held on March 10.
The J&K BJP leaders will brief the national president on prevailing political situation in the UT and party’s preparations for Assembly elections whenever they are held.
Indications from the BJP leaders are that the party is in no mood to go for pre-poll alliance with any political party. The BJP leadership was of the view that the party is comfortable on 35 Assembly seats in Jammu division and in a position to become single largest party though on record it will launch Mission 50 plus in the House of 90 to form the Government.
Nadda is expected to give directions to the UT party leadership on preparations for the Assembly elections.
“Presently, the party’s focus is on forming Government in four States of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur and have major say in Punjab. However, when the leadership is free from the task, the senior leaders will start tours of Jammu and Kashmir,” the insiders said.
The BJP leadership opined that after submission of Delimitation Commission report, it wouldn’t be possible to delay elections beyond six or eight months and that the polls could be held between October to December like 2008 and 2014 besides 2018 Municipal and Panchayat elections and 2020 District Development Council polls.
The Delimitation Commission headed by Justice (Retired) Ranjana Prakash Desai and comprising Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sushil Chandra and State Election Commissioner (SEC) KK Sharma has fixed March 4 as deadline for five Associate Members to file suggestions/objections to revised draft report.
After receiving suggestions/ objections and accepting or rejecting them, the Commission is likely to put the draft report in public domain for claims and objections for a period of 42 days before submitting final recommendations.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah had recently stated that Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir will be held within six to eight months of the final Delimitation Commission report.
Whenever held, this will be the first Assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir as a Union Territory with 90 Assembly seats. J&K as a State had 87 Assembly seats including four constituencies of Ladakh, which now is a separate UT without Legislature.
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