After poor performance in parliament elections, BJP likely to bank on Gujjar candidates; Pahari leaders exposed badly
POONCH TODAY NEWS
POONCH: After granting ST status to the Pahari ethnic tribe, the BJP leadership was fully confident that Paharis would vote for a BJP-supported candidate of the Apni Party from the Anantnag-Rajouri parliamentary constituency, but the final election result gave massive shock to the BJP leadership.
Those turn-coat leaders who joined the BJP to secure their self-interest promised a blue moon to the BJP leadership, but the opening of EVM machines showed their true character. Some businessmen also joined the BJP for their illegal business interests and getting big jobs only and managed to project themselves as mass leaders, but EVM machines showed that from their areas, the BJP failed to get more than ten votes. After being backstabbed by Pahari leaders, the BJP think tank has now decided to bank on Gujjar leaders in the Rajouri-Poonch belt. It is likely that Gujjar leaders will get more BJP mandates than Pahari leaders. As per sources, the BJP may give mandates to Gujjar candidates in all three assembly segments of Poonch districts. In Rajouri district also, some prominent Gujjar leaders from other parties are likely to join the BJP and may get the mandate from the saffron brigade. Highly placed sources in the BJP camp told “POONCH TODAY” that after the debacle of a BJP-sponsored candidate in the recently concluded parliamentary elections, many Pahari leaders were taken to task by the BJP high command. “POONCH TODAY” was the first media platform in the UT of J&K that predicted that a large chunk of Paharis and a sufficient number of Gujjars would not vote for the BJP, and that prediction came true. The BJP, after weighing the pros and cons of poor performance, reportedly has made a big plan, which is to bring in Gujjar candidates. But as per the present political permutations and combinations, the traditional vote bank of the BJP may not support any Gujjar candidate because they believe that Gujjars in large numbers voted against the Modi government three times. On the other hand, if the BJP bets on Pahari candidates, then the chances of Pahari candidates winning all three seats are not high. If Congress manages to form an alliance with the National Conference, then the expected alliance has the capacity to win at least two seats from Poonch and two seats from Rajouri. Sources also said that the BJP leadership has serious doubts about Pahari leaders because all of them have been exposed now for their double-faced. The other day in Raj Bhawan, Srinagar, LG Manoj Sinha, during an official function, clearly mentioned the contributions of the Gujjar community while at the same time indirectly hitting the Pahari leaders for their double standard. This development assumes much significance and is a clear indication that the BJP may go for mostly Gujjar candidates in the Rajouri-Poonch belt, but the chances of Gujjar candidates winning maximum seats are bleak going by the perception in the minds of traditional BJP voters that Gujjar voters voted in large numbers against the BJP in the last three parliamentary elections. Given the present circumstances, it would be a tough task for the BJP president Ravinder Raina and other top leaders to plan a high-level strategy in the Rajouri-Poonch belt, which has always supported non-BJP parties at maximum. It would be interesting to see how the BJP leadership turned the tide in its favour after the debacle in parliament elections in the Rajouri-Poonch belt due to the double face adopted by Pahari leaders and voters.