Following its failure to get a majority in most of the civic bodies in the Jammu region, the BJP has initiated the process of placating the rebels and is also luring Independents to manage the required numbers in various municipalities.
While the party on Sunday roped in an Independent who won from the Nagri Prole Municipal Committee, former Deputy Chief Minister Kavinder Gupta approached Udhampur MLA Pawan Gupta to muster a majority in the Udhampur Municipal Council in which the party has got only four of the total 21 seats.
The BJP arch-rival J&K National Panthers Party has won six seats and the Congress has won only two in the 21-member Udhampur Municipal Council.
The BJP has approached Pawan Gupta because five Independents supported by him have won the elections. Gupta had created history in the 2014 Assembly elections by winning from the Udhampur segment despite a strong Modi wave. He had defeated the BJP and Panther Party candidates and had contested as a BJP rebel.
After the formation of the PDP-BJP coalition government headed by Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, Gupta was inducted as a Minister of State from the BJP quota but was removed after Mehbooba Mufti became the Chief Minister.
