Despite forming the previous coalition government with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the BJP is still striving to gain a firm foothold in the Kashmir valley. Though the party boasts of having enrolled around 3.5 lakh members in the Valley, its local leaders say a lot still needs to be done to bring about a ‘change in the hearts’ of the people at a place where the BJP has failed to win any electoral seat. “We have to change the mental setup of the people. We also have to bring about a change in the hearts of the people that can be done with love and compassion,” said BJP leader Fayaz Ahmad Bhat when asked about the challenges faced by the party in the Valley where 33 out of 34 candidates had lost their security deposits in the 2014 Assembly polls.
Bhat had secured the maximum number of votes (3,892) by any BJP candidate in the Assembly elections after contesting from Devsar in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district.
However, he claimed that the BJP had made ‘significant inroads’ and the party would perform well in the upcoming municipal elections. He said the BJP was working towards strengthening of cadres and organisational structures in the Valley.
BJP state general secretary (Organisation) Ashok Koul, who had overseen the party’s membership drive and first-ever recent organisational elections in Kashmir, said they had managed to lay a party base.
“We have formed a team for every constituency. Earlier, we used to nominate constituency presidents, but after strengthening party foothold here, we elected district presidents through proper voting of party workers,” Koul said.
After organisational elections, the BJP constituted a first of its kind district teams across the Valley. Team for every district comprises 21 office-bearers. BJP spokesman Khalid Jehangir said from ‘no visibility’, the party had now ‘strengthened’ its votebank. “There was a time when the BJP had no visibility in Kashmir, but now we have strengthened our votebank. Our challenge is to provide an alternative of good governance,” he said.
Even as forming district teams and holding organisatioal elections may appear nothing out of the ordinary, the BJP feels that it spoke volumes about the inroads made by the party in Kashmir. “Each district team has office-bearers and around 60 executive members. It speaks volumes about the inroads made by the party in Kashmir,” said BJP media in charge Altaf Thakur.
BJP still striving to find its feet in Valley
