Is internal strife a bad omen for BJP in Jammu & Kashmir?

JAMMU: Is the BJP in trouble in the Jammu and Kashmir elections even before election campaigning is yet to take off on the ground as the party grapples with the row over a list of nominations sent by the party high command?

Viewed in the backdrop of the ups and downs of BJP’s electoral graph in the last four decades, the fresh controversy may point to a departure from BJP’s impressive performance in 2014.

The Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) found itself in the middle of a crisis in Jammu and Kashmir when the party headquarters at Trikuta Nagar in Jammu witnessed angry protests by party workers, who claimed that “parachute candidates” were preferred over hardworking and loyal workers.

Soon after the first list of 44 candidates for the three-phased election to the 90 Assembly seats in J&K was released, the party headquarters became the focal point for angry demonstrations by the party workers. The videos of the protests inside and outside the office this morning were shared on social media platforms by party activists and some media channels from Jammu.

IN one video, the BJP president Ravinder Raina is seen requesting a woman party members and escorting her inside the party headquarters for sorting out the issues amicably. The women continues to shout at the party leadership for ignoring her candidature for the upcoming Assembly elections. Another party leader, Aditi Sharma announced her resignation on social media platform from the party and decided not to contest elections on the party mandate.

First list of BJP candidates withdrawn

The initial list included Chowdhary Zulfikar Ali (Budhal ST), Mohammad Akram Chaudhary (Gulabgarh), and Balwant Singh Mankotia (Udhampur), who had joined the BJP in the recent past and defected from the People’s Democratic Party, and Panthers Party after 2019. Chowdhary Zulfikar Ali joined the BJP as recently as last week after he was assured the party ticket.

Davinder Singh Rana (Nagrota) and Surjit Singh Salathia (Ramgarh) joined the BJP a few years back after defecting from the National Conference. Both of them had won their seats on NC tickets and served as ministers till 2014. Chowdhary Abdul Gani (Poonch Haveli) and Murtaza Khan (Mendhar) also joined the BJP last week while Syed Mushtaq Ahmed Bukhari (Surankote) defected from NC to BJP last year.

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‘Parachute’ candidates in BJP list

The list of second phase candidates, now withdrawn by the BJP, featured Ashok Bhat in Habbakadal and Mohammad Akram Chaudhary in Gulabgarh (ST), Kuldeep Raj Dubey from Reasi, while Rohit Dubey was fielded from Shri Mata Vaishno Devi. Thakur Randhir Singh was fielded from Kalakote-Sunderbani and Chowdhary Zulfikar Ali was fielded from Budhal (ST).

Likewise, the list of candidates for the third phase, now withdrawn, included Pawan Gupta from Udhampur West, Balwant Singh Mankotia from Chenani, and Sunil Bhardwaj from Ramnagar (SC). For Bani, the BJP had nominated Jeevan Lal; Satish Sharma was fielded from Billawar, and Darshan Singh from Basohli in the now withdrawn list.

Videos of protests on social media

The Congress also shared the videos of protests in the BJP office with the comments that the ruling party at the centre is already showing signs of defeat even before the beginning of the elections in J&K.

The list, which was shared by the BJP IT Cell on social media was withdrawn within two hours and deleted soon after. A fresh list appeared within hours.

A revised list of 16 candidates for the first phase includes three former MLAs and a woman candidate, Shagun Parihar, whose father, Ajeet Parihar and her uncle Anil Parihar were gunned down by suspected terrorists in Kishtwar in November 2018. The Parihar brothers were affiliated with the BJP for several years till they exited the party to join the Panthers Party in 1996.

Ex-Dy CMs, BJP party chief missing in first list

At least ten former elected legislators, who won on BJP tickets, including former Deputy Chief Ministers Nirmal Singh, Kavinder Gupta, and former BJP chief Sat Paul Sharma were dropped, as per the first list. Party president Ravinder Raina’s name was also missing from the first list.

While the J&K BJP President Ravinder Raina downplayed the resentment over the initial list, a group of party workers held a strong protest demonstration inside and outside the office and shouted down every party leader, who tried to pacify them.

They could be seen clashing with their party colleagues and heard leveling serious charges of corruption against the candidates, who were newcomers to the party.

BJP old guards welcome scrapping of list

BJP Scheduled Caste Morcha president Jagdish Bhagat said, “I have been associated with the party for the last 18 years and have worked day and night to strengthen it but the mandate was given to a person who joined the party only a few days back.”

Hailing the withdrawal of the initial list, Jagdish Bhagat said, “We hope that party leaders would be given the mandate instead of those who have done nothing for the party.”

“If they ignore us, there will be serious consequences. We will not allow any wrongdoing and will protest against this injustice within the party,” Bhagat said.

Interestingly, Ravinder Raina, whose name did not appear in the now-deleted list, sought to downplay the controversy.

Speaking to reporters at the BJP headquarters, Ravinder Raina said the list of the 16 candidates for the first phase was released by the Central Election Committee after a long discussion and subsequent lists for the second and third phases will follow shortly.

“The BJP is fully prepared for the elections. We work like a family and thousands of our workers are ready to make their contribution to the success of our candidates,” he said.

“Our mission is the victory of our party… there are many types of discussions and issues within a party. The last date for filing nominations for the first phase is August 27 and so the list of 16 candidates was released,” he added.

Revised List of BJP candidates

In the revised list, the BJP has named 16 candidates for Kashmir and Chenab Valley seats while withholding the names of candidates for the Jammu region. The saffron party has fielded Er Syed Showkat Gayoor Andrabi from Pampore. In Rajpora, Arshid Bhat will represent the party. The BJP has fielded Javed Ahmad Qadri from Shopian, while Mohd. Rafiq Wani is contesting from Anantnag West. Advocate Syed Wazahat will contest from Anantnag.

Other candidates for the first phase include Sofi Yousuf in Srigufwara-Bijbehara, Veer Saraf in Shangus-Anantnag East, Tariq Keen in Inderwal, Shagun Parihar in Kishtwar, and Sunil Sharma in Padder-Nagseni. Additionally, Daleep Singh Parihar in Bhadeerwah, Gajay Singh Rana in Doda, and Shakti Raj Parihar in Doda West have also been announced by the BJP. Rakesh Thakur has been fielded from Ramban while Salim Bhat has been fielded from Banihal by the BJP in the revised list.

In the 2nd list, the BJP named Choudhary Roshan Hussain Gujjar from the Kokernag (ST) seat.

Over 12 candidates joined BJP in 5 years

The initial list covered 36 segments in the Jammu region and eight in the Kashmir Valley. It included about a dozen prominent leaders, several former ministers, who have joined the party in the past five years.

Two Kashmiri Pandits and 14 Muslim candidates were also named in the initial list. Several former leaders of Congress, National Conference, PDP, and Panthers Party, who switched sides and joined the BJP, also featured in the now-deleted list.

Sharing the revised list of candidates in a press release, the BJP said that the names for the second and third phases should be considered withdrawn. Later in the day, another list with just one name was released.

This time, elections in Jammu and Kashmir are headed for a triangular contest between the National Conference-Congress alliance, the PDP, and the BJP.

Both the NC and Congress are reported to have finalized a list of 23 candidates, 16 from the former and seven from the latter party. The list is likely to be released soon.

Congress-NC alliance

Earlier, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi met National Conference president Farooq Abdullah and vice-president Omar Abdullah and announced their alliance.

Scoffing at the tie-up, BJP general secretary Tarun Chugh, who is in-charge of the party’s Jammu and Kashmir campaign, declared that the Congress-National Conference alliance will collapse like a house of cards and will face a humiliating defeat.

Earlier, BJP chief spokesperson Sunil Sethi said party leaders and workers are united and will work tirelessly for the success of all candidates.

“There is no heartburn or confusion. We should not make any presumptions and wait for the fresh lists,” he said.

So far, 14 candidates have filed their nomination papers for the first phase of elections which will cover 24 assembly segments — 16 in Kashmir and eight in Jammu. The last date for filing nominations is August 27.

The process of filing nominations for the second and third phases will begin on August 29 and September 5 respectively.

BJP’s performance in past Assembly elections

The last Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir were held in 2014. In the 2014 elections, the BJP put up a stellar show by winning 25 seats and the PDP emerged as the single largest party with victories in 28 constituencies.

The incumbent National Conference won 15 seats and the Congress bagged 12. Following the election, the BJP and the PDP forged a surprise alliance government, led by Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and then by Mehbooba Mufti after the former died in February 2016.

However, BJP’s past performance in assembly elections, prior to 2014, has been dismal.

The BJP had more than doubled its seat share in the Assembly election over the last polls in 2008. In the 2008 Assembly elections, BJP bagged eleven seats from Reasi, Bani, Basohli, Hiranagar, Nagrota, Jammu East, Jammu West, R S Pura, Suchetgarh, Marh, and Raipur Domana constituencies.

In 2008, the BJP had added 10 seats to its kitty compared to the 2002 Assembly elections when it could win only one seat from Nagrota in the Jammu region.

The party had eight members in the Assembly after the 1996 elections, which were held after a gap of nine years. This was the first Assembly elections after the armed insurgency started in 1989.

The NC-Congress coalition government had resigned in January 1990 leading to the imposition of Governor’s rule for six months followed by President’s rule in J&K for the next six years.

In 1987, the BJP could win in two Assembly segments, Jammu East and Hiranagar and it was seen as a step forward for the BJP because it had drawn a blank in 1983 polls. BJP contested the first Assembly elections in 1983 after its formation in 1980.

In the recently concluded parliamentary elections held after fresh delimitation of both Lok Sabha and Assembly constituencies, the BJP won two seats, Jammu-Rajouri and Doda-Udhampur, with smaller margins compared to the 2019 General Elections. So far as the Jammu-Rajouri parliamentary segments are concerned, the BJP was trailing behind in four Assembly seats while leading in two constituencies with less than 2500 votes.

Similarly, in the Doda-Udhampur Lok Sabha constituency, the BJP candidate was trailing in four Assembly segments while it was having a comfortable lead in other segments. The BJP candidate polled 5,71,076 votes, the Congress nominee 4,46,703 votes and the Democratic Progressive Azad Party candidate got 39,599 votes. The victory margin was only 1,24,373 votes compared to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

List of BJP candidates who won in 2014 and their victory margins

BJP seats in Jammu & Kashmir Assembly: A glance

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