First time since the BJP shared power in J&K on March 1, 2015, major fissures have surfaced in the party’s state unit with two groups locking horns against each other.
Irked by the approach of some party leaders, a group of disgruntled party leaders and activists have shot a letter to BJP’s Kashmir affairs in-charge Dr Narendra Singh, appealing him to investigate the “acts against the party’s interest and promoting lobbyism.”
The letter, signed by BJP’s district presidents and party activists reads that there are some people lobbying for their vested interests and they are hell-bent to disintegrate the party cadre by launching a “campaign against honest and dedicated lot.”
“These people have been lobbying very hard to tarnish the image of some sincere party leaders which has damaged the image of party in Kashmir,” reads the memorandum. “A particular group has been working for some time to malign the image of dedicated leaders like Deputy Chief Minister Dr Nirmal Singh to pave way for another leader. These people have created the wedge for their personal gains.”
The letter further states that the group has been actively campaigning in Kashmir against Jammu leadership. “This group has created an atmosphere of suffocation for us due to their mischievous activities,” it reads. “The group has already submitted a memorandum to union minister for minority affairs Mukthar Abbas Naqvi. The memorandum has gone through (BJP leader) Dr Darakhshan Andrabi. Even the members of the group have held series of meetings at Cheshma Shahi. The meetings were chaired by vice-chairman BJP G A Mir.”
The letter also alleged that in one of the earlier meetings Dr Andrabi “spewed venom” against present party leadership including Deputy Chief Minister. “We appeal the party leadership to thoroughly investigate the matter and ensure the anti-party campaign is scuttled on all fronts,” it states.
BJP’s vice-chairman for J&K G A Mir said all the allegations levelled by some party activists are baseless. “We held meetings and there is no doubt about that. We discussed how to strengthen the party and conveyed out concerns to the party high command. We are Kashmiris and want to promote what the former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee did and what the Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced recently,” Mir told Kashmir Post. He said they don’t demand ouster of Deputy Chief Minister. “This is purely the prerogative of the party high command. How can we demand this? We respect Deputy Chief Minister and have no grudge against him,” he said. “Our ultimate aim is that peace must prevail in Kashmir.”
District president of BJP for Srinagar, Fayaz Ahmed Bhat, said, “We are Kashmiris and have to die here only. Our motive is to strengthen BJP’s Kashmir unit on all fronts and we will leave no stone unturned to do that. We want Vajpayee’s Kashmir vision to be transformed into reality. We are holding meetings in that regard only.”
Distancing himself from the letter submitted by the ‘disgruntled’ BJP group, he said: “I don’t know who they are. We are not demanding change in portfolios of any minister. Our only concern is to safeguard Kashmiriyat, Insaniyat and Jamhoriyat, nothing else.”
Fissures in BJP’s Kashmir unit? 2 Groups shoot letters to high command
