Mismanagement during the crucial hours led to the BJP’s dismissal performance in Poonch-Rajouri districts, admits Central BJP leadership
POONCH TODAY NEWS
POONCH: In the last edition of “POONCH TODAY,” it was published that the poor organization skills of the Poonch BJP led to a big disappointment in assembly elections, and the same facts, which were explained in detail by the newspaper, have been accepted by the Central BJP leadership to a certain extent. High-ranking sources within the BJP camp informed “POONCH TODAY” that the J&K BJP leaders’ statements regarding the BJP’s poor performance in the twin border districts of Poonch and Rajouri have not convinced the BJP’s top brass.
It is important to mention here that the traditional BJP cadre was ignored and parachute workers were given every responsibility to lead the party in the sensitive border region, but those parachute leaders, who had their political genes of NC, Congress, and PDP, failed to adopt the BJP’s way of implementing the strategy on the ground. However, the traditional RSS-backed BJP cadre, which was fully aware of the various kinds of election strategies, was sidelined, and it impacted the party badly. People with unconvinced credentials were allowed to enjoy full freedom in the party; as a result, the party performed poorly in the region, although it stood at number two position at maximum seats. But the inability of the party to convert the number-second performance into winning has given a big setback to the central BJP leadership. Although the BJP president Ravinder Raina tried his best to please the Pahari and Gujjar communities by solving their long-pending demands, including the grant of ST status to the Pahari ethnic tribe and political reservation to the Gujjars, the saffron brigade failed to get what it expected. The party leadership was expecting more than five seats alone from the Poonch-Rajouri region. A senior Jammu-based BJP leader said, “We were surprised by the act of Paharis. We trusted them and took a historic first step by addressing their demand for Pahari status, but look what we got in return.” On the other hand, the party also fulfilled various demands of the Gujjar community, including the political reservation, but even from the Gujjars side, the party did not get as many votes as expected by the top BJP brass. Reports available with “POONCH TODAY” say that the central BJP leadership is not happy with the performance of BJP leadership in the Poonch-Rajouri region, and it is likely that all issues will come up for discussion sooner than later, and those leaders who failed to perform well for the party may be asked to explain their positions before the top brass takes any important decisions for the future. Although the party has performed well in the Jammu region by winning 29 seats, the underprivileged performance of the BJP in the Poonch-Rajouri districts is not digestible to the top BJP brass. Meanwhile, after the big debacle of the BJP in the Poonch districts, some parachute party leaders who were given important responsibilities have cleaned their homes and offices with BJP symbols, posters, and flags to give the impression that they may disappear from the party in the near future. They are the same parachute leaders who were trusted by the BJP by ignoring their parent cadre, and now, as per their traditional habit of backstabbing and changing loyalties, they have stated looking for new options as these opportunist people believe that the BJP has no future in the Poonch-Rajouri districts. Those who shifted various parties just to protect their business interests are in a state of confusion about their future as the party’s performance from their polling booths has exposed themselves badly. Now, keeping in view of the future elections, it would be interesting to know what type of decision the BJP’s central leadership will take on the party’s poor performance in the Poonch-Rajouri districts.