J&K polls: BJP counting on Shias for first seat in valley

NEW DELHI: BJP will try to maximise its strengths in Jammu and Ladakh and open its account in the Kashmir Valley. The party also plans micro-managing to break the idea that the valley is homogenous.

Delegations representing the Bakkarwal and Gujjar communities have already met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi in the last few months. Efforts are on to woo the Shiite community, present in small numbers in the valley, and in larger numbers in Ladakh.
"There is a fallacy that the Kashmir is homogenous in terms of population, there are people other than the majority Sunnis, and BJP is targeting them," said a senior leader involved in the strategy. This also involved a committee set up to facilitate the enrolment of Kashmir Pandit migrant voters on the Valley's rolls, and to allow them to vote from where they reside. "That should be done this time round," said the leader. "We expect to open our account in Kashmir proper, may be even up to 6-7, mostly at the cost of Congress."

State leaders are banking on the Modi effect to maximise performance in Jammu and Ladakh. "The state government and Congress have lost credibility, especially after the way the floods were handled," says Hari Om, political advisor to the party's state unit chief JK Sharma.

"When the PM visited Srinagar on Diwali, he received many delegations from various groups who insisted that rather than channeling the relief funds through the state government, the Centre should take on the job directly, this was unprecedented," he said. "Someone like Shabnam Lone to welcomed the PM's visit publicly," he added.

Jammu, where the party had scored 11 out of the 36 seats, the last time round too is an area where the Modi effect will be employed to the full. With just a month to the first phase of polling, the party will be finalising tickets this week. A victory in J&K, where the first president of the Jana Sangh, Shyama Prasad Mookerjee died in state custody, is something the party is desperately hoping for.