NL Correspondent
Jammu Tawi, Jan 20
BJP general secretary and Party's Point-man Ram Madhav on Sunday said while his party would most likely go it alone in the upcoming Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections, it would form a “stable government with some friends” in the state after the polls. He said his party would contest all seats in the state at its own.
“There is the least possibility of a pre-poll alliance with any party for the assembly elections in the state. The BJP will emerge (as) the largest party after the elections and will give a stable government to the people with some friends,” Madhav told reporters here.
Due to the special circumstances in the state, “we have no hesitation in joining hands with others” to form the government, he said.
The BJP leader said Prime Minister Narendra Modi will kick start the party's campaign for upcoming parliamentary and assembly polls in the state during his visit on February 3.
The PM will also be inaugurating and laying foundation stones of various projects in the state. Madhav also demanded reservation for Pahari speaking people and divisional status for Ladakh.
“While the parliamentary elections are scheduled for April-May, the BJP is ready for the assembly polls in the state as well. It is up to the Election Commission to decide whether the two polls are held together or separately,” Madhav said.
The Election Commission had in November last said fresh elections in Jammu and Kashmir would be held within the next six months. The state is currently under President's rule.
Madhav dismissed allegations that the BJP did not favour assembly polls in the state.
“There is no truth in the rumours being spread that the BJP is not in favour of early assembly polls in the state,” he said.
He claimed some other parties wanted the polls to be deferred as they feared losing.
Last week, Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik had also said that except for the PDP, all other parties wanted Assembly elections. Mr Malik said while the state BJP wanted the polls to be held along with the national election, the National Conference wanted it to be held as soon as possible.
“The PDP wants it to be delayed,” he had said.
PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, however, trashed such claims and said “we are always ready for elections”.
Pointing out that the BJP had no “jhanda or agenda”, Madhav said the people would have to decide at 2019 elections whether they want to have a government headed by a visionary prime minister or a “hotchpotch” government which does not know who is their leader.
About National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah's charge that “EVM is a chor machine”, he asked the Congress leadership in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh whether they could have won the elections in those states if the former CM's allegations were true. “Let them first answer it and then we will see,” Madhav said.
Asked about the PDP expelling former minister Altaf Bukhari, Madhav said, “I don't want to talk about internal matters of another political party, but I must underscore one point here that he is the same leader who was projected as the chief minister of the combined opposition when they (PDP, Congress and National Conference) were trying to form the government in the state just a couple of months ago.”
- Govt to set up townships for Kashmiri Pandits in Valley: Ram Madhav
Jammu Tawi, Jan 20
BJP general secretary Ram Madhav on Sunday said the government had decided to set up separate townships for rehabilitation of migrant Kashmiri Pandits in the Valley.
When asked whether the BJP had any roadmap for rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits in the Valley in 2019, Madhav said, “When we formed the government in the state, we had a roadmap for them. We had tried to set up townships for Kashmiri Pandits at five or six places in the Valley and it goes to the credit of the Mufti Mohammad Sayeed government that those places were also identified.”
He said further progress in the matter was derailed mainly because of the prevailing security situation in the Valley. “Even today, it does not seem that they will be able to live in peace there,” Madhav said.
“However, we are committed to safeguard their political rights and other rights,” he said, adding that the next step would be taken after discussions with the Kashmiri Pandit leadership.
In April 2015, separatists held protests in the Valley against the move by the Centre and state government to set up separate townships for Pandits. Then CM Mufti Sayeed had denied any such plans. The Central government had also denied any proposal to create separate zones exclusively for Pandits.
Asked about the problems being faced by West Pakistan refugees in getting the benefits of a rehabilitation package announced by the Centre, Madhav said every attempt will be made to address any difficulty faced by the community.
“We will ensure that the refugees get relief and will look into the procedure to make it easy for them as we did in the case of displaced people from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir,” he said.
