In what is seemingly a shot in the arm for the BJP, especially in the Pir Panjal region, ahead of the upcoming three-phased polls in Jammu and Kashmir, founder member and vice-president of the Jammu Kashmir Apni Party, Chowdhary Zulfkar Ali joined the BJP with his supporters on Sunday Indian Express reported.
“We want benefits to reach the common man and do not believe in the politics of sloganeering. Schemes like the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) are providing homes to the homeless while the common man is getting Rs 5 lakh health insurance, free treatment as well as free ration. The Centre’s pro-people policies are reaching the last man in backward regions. We have come here as we are those backward people,” Ali said as senior BJP leaders like state chief Ravinder Rana, Union minister Jitendra Singha and national general secretary Tarun Chugh inducted him into the party.
Ali, who is an influential Gujjar leader and hails from Rajouri district in the Pir Panjal region, has been a two-time MLA from the Darhal seat, which he first won in 2008 and retained it in 2014. He has also served as a Cabinet minister in the PDP-BJP government led by Mehbooba Mufti and held key portfolios like food, civil supplies, consumer affairs and tribal affairs.
Ali’s induction is also likely to rally the Gujjars too in support of the BJP, taking the party closer to the power corridors of the union territory. The party, which had secured a lead in 29 of the 43 Assembly seats in the recent Lok Sabha polls, is now looking to improve its tally in the Pir Panjal region, where it won two seats – Nowshera and Kalakote – in the 2014 polls.
The former MLA’s joining is likely to reduce the damage that the BJP had suffered in the border districts of Rajouri and Poonch after the Centre earlier this year accepted the long-standing demand of the Pahari ethnic group and granted them Scheduled Tribe (ST) status, bringing them in conflict with the Gujjars.
Despite the BJP’s decision to reserve nine seats in the Assembly for STs and enacting the Forest Rights Act, the Gujjars had stayed away from the recent Lok Sabha polls in Anantnag over the grant of ST status to the Paharis. Despite its leaders “silently campaigning” for “like-minded parties” while urging people to vote for “bat-ball” – the Apni Party symbol – it faced defeat at the hands of senior NC leader and prominent Gujjar face Mian Altaf.
Observers claim that BJP will have an edge with Ali’s joining as it comes in the backdrop of a changed political scenario after the Centre granting ST status to both Gujjars and Paharis with a provision of separate reservation for both groups. The move has attracted several Pahari leaders like former NC MLA Shahnaz Ganai, and Rajouri District Development Board (DDB) members Abdul Qayoom Mir and Iqbal Malik to the BJP.
Despite the BJP’s decision to reserve nine seats in the Assembly for STs and enacting the Forest Rights Act, the Gujjars had stayed away from the recent Lok Sabha polls in Anantnag over the grant of ST status to the Paharis. Despite its leaders “silently campaigning” for “like-minded parties” while urging people to vote for “bat-ball” – the Apni Party symbol – it faced defeat at the hands of senior NC leader and prominent Gujjar face Mian Altaf.
Observers claim that BJP will have an edge with Ali’s joining as it comes in the backdrop of a changed political scenario after the Centre granting ST status to both Gujjars and Paharis with a provision of separate reservation for both groups. The move has attracted several Pahari leaders like former NC MLA Shahnaz Ganai, and Rajouri District Development Board (DDB) members Abdul Qayoom Mir and Iqbal Malik to the BJP.
Of the seven Assembly seats in Rajouri and Poonch districts, six have been reserved for STs following delimitation in 2022. They include Gujjars, Paharis and Bakerwals, who comprise more than half of the almost 7.35 lakh electorate of the region Indian Express reported.
