BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav is on a three-day visit to Kashmir and is meeting party leadership and several regional leaders in the wake of National Conference’s (NC) bid to spearhead an alliance of seven regional parties to launch a joint fight for restoration of J&K’s special status.
Mr. Madhav met senior BJP leaders from Srinagar on Friday and sought a “feedback on the security scenario” and “the recent political development,” party sources said. The meeting was also attended by BJP general secretary in J&K Ashok Koul, Sunil Sharma and Vibodh Gupta.
Addressing the party leaders, Mr. Madav likened the Gupkar Declaration to NC’s Plebiscite Front. “Sheikh [Muhammad Abdullah] got the Chief Minister’s post in 1975 and the NC forgot plebiscite demand,” he was quoted as saying by those who attended the meeting.
He termed the Gupkar Declaration another political stunt by the NC.
Many meetings
Mr. Madhav on Thursday met several regional leaders, including J&K Apni Party’s Ghulam Hassan Mir and Usman Majeed and disgruntled leaders from the Peoples Democratic Party and the J&K Peoples Movement, apparently to cobble together to a new political force to counter Farooq Abdullah’s new regional alliance to demand the return of the special status.
Mr. Madhav also met Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) patron Muzaffar Hussian Baig. When contacted, a PDP spokesman neither confirmed nor denied the meeting.
Dr. Abdullah has managed to bring together at least seven regional parties, including rivals like Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Peoples Conference, around the Gupkar Declaration to launch “a joint fight for restoration of Article 370 and 35A.” The JKAP has already made it clear that it will not back the Gupkar Declaration or the NC-led grouping.
BJP’s plan
BJP sources said Mr. Madhav’s three-day visit has come in the backdrop of NC’s Gupkar Declaration. The BJP is working towards an informal alliance in Kashmir valley, “both to blunt the narrative of the NC and boost its electoral prospects for the future.”
Senior NC leader Mian Altaf on Friday said a local BJP leader called him to meet Mr. Madhav. “I told him thanks, but there is no need to come to my residence as I have nothing to do with them. I never met him directly or indirectly,” Mr. Altaf said.
Meanwhile, JKAP chief spokesperson Javed Hussain Beg clarified that no external role was played by any person or group in the formation of his party.
“We will try to create a space in the public domain as other parties are doing, but with a realistic approach. JKAP does not believe in fallacies. Whosoever will be in the chair in New Delhi, JKAP will talk to them while considering full respect and dignity of the people of J&K,” Mr. Beg said.