Poor organization skills of the Poonch BJP led to a big disappointment in assembly elections; Traditional party cadre sidelined, parachute leaders spoiled the party internally

Poor organization skills of the Poonch BJP led to a big disappointment in assembly elections; Traditional party cadre sidelined, parachute leaders spoiled the party internally

SALIL RAINA

(POONCH TODAY NEWS)

POONCH: The Bharatiya Janta party, which is also known as the saffron brigade, is known all over the country for its strict party discipline and a nationalist approach.

But over the years, poor organization skills of the party in the Poonch-Rajouri region led to a big disappointment for the party in the recently concluded assembly elections. The party allowed turncoat leaders, those involved in various land scams and illegal constructions, law violators, and those who remained involved in other illegal activities for years to join the saffron brigade to protect their illegal acts and not to strengthen the party. The number of groups within the party at ground level also proved fatal for the Saffron Brigade. On the one hand, traditional and dedicated party workers who took the party from 200 votes to 12,000 before the 2014 assembly elections were sidelined, but on the other hand, some people with questionable integrity were allowed to join the party, and this led to a massive decrease in the reputation of the party in the eyes of loyal party workers and common men with a nationalist approach who stood with the party for decades. A large number of people joined the party to get security cover and to fulfill their business interests. They hoodwinked the party’s top brass on social media through their pictures and videos to show that they are mass leaders, but on the ground, the top brass of the BJP failed to know their real truth that they stood nowhere. Some turncoat leaders who are known for changing the party loyalist as per political season also joined the party, aiming for a blue moon, but during the parliamentary and assembly elections, they were exposed as they failed to deliver for the party. The voting data from personal polling booths of all those parachute leaders who joined the BJP hoping to get a big favor shows that they backstabbed the party internally. Sources in the BJP camp told “POONCH TODAY” that party funds were not used properly on the ground, which led to a massive failure of the BJP in the district, and in this case, a detailed investigation is needed on how some BJP workers cheated the top brass of the party as far as mismanaging funds are concerned. In the Poonch Haveli constituency, a number of polling stations in the Poonch city were without any BJP polling agents. Overall, during the parliamentary and assembly elections, parachute leaders who were given important responsibilities by the party have been exposed badly. They only joined the party to protect their personal and business interests. It’s a fact that the nationalists to a considerable extent in the twin border districts of Poonch and Rajouri always supported the BJP, but on the other hand, the top brass of the BJP always ignored their concerns.  Adding Poonch district and some areas of Rajouri district with Anantnag was a big blunder the BJP had committed, and that decision hurt the aspirations of the nationalists, who are now left with no political representation and backing. The BJP leadership of J&K UT took some imprudent decisions that were enough to spoil the interests of nationalists in the border region. Many tainted people with questionable credentials against the nation were allowed to join the BJP by the top BJP leadership. In Rajouri district, a BJP worker turned media person was later found out to be a terrorist. Many parachute BJP workers at Poonch were seen targeting the officers of the administration unnecessarily, and it also affected the party’s credibility. There are also reports that some BJP workers and those associated with the BJP indirectly collected favors from innocent people for solving their issues by approaching top officers of the UT administration. Some BJP workers misused their photos with top leaders by misguiding the common man that they have strong links in the government, and in return, they trapped many innocent persons with a malafide intention of earning money from poor people. Some of them joined the BJP to get PSOs, and all these foolish decisions of the BJP leadership to allow such tainted people into the party’s fold left an impression in the minds of traditional BJP voters and common man that the saffron brigade has become a party of some immature people in the district. Traditional loyal party workers who laid the foundation of the party were completely sidelined by the BJP, while those having doubtful credentials and known for changing political parties to suit their personal interests were given important positions. Some BJP workers also leaked internal information to opposition leadership by remaining in every BJP meeting. Despite having support from the national leadership, J&K UT leadership, huge funding flow, and a host of favorable factors, the BJP candidates failed to win their respective seats. In the Jammu region, the BJP performed well and took overall 29 seats, but its inability to perform well in the Rajouri-Poonch range raised a big question mark on the local leadership. Although the BJP got the second position in the district on all three seats, lack of coordination between BJP workers spoiled the party’s winning prospects. The Poonch unit of the BJP, despite having big names, got only 20,928 votes. It is important to mention here that the BJP candidate Ch. Abdul Gani during the 2014 election got more than 15,000 votes. It means Ch Gani alone carried 12,000 to 15,000 Gujjar votes, and the rest of the BJP leaders provided only 5,000 plus votes. On the other hand, some leaders said that Gujjar voters voted for NC candidate Ajaz Jan and only Paharis voted for the BJP. During the 2014 assembly elections, the then BJP candidate Pardeep Sharma got  11,292 votes alone, but now the Poonch unit of the BJP, despite organizing massive rallies of national leaders like Defense Minister Rajnath Singh and Home Minister Amit Shah, managed to get only 20,928 votes from the Poonch haveli constituency. In Surankote, the BJP got 23,773 votes, and in Mendhar, the party got 17,270 votes. It’s a big question mark on the office bearers of the Poonch unit of the BJP who kept the BJP’s top brass in dark and internally spoiled the party with their lack of proper planning. Time and again, it was written by ‘POONCH TODAY’ that the office bearers of the BJP never worked as a team, but all the team members were individually working to fulfill their hidden interests. Some big names who are also known for changing loyalties joined the saffron brigade to get a big position, but on the ground, they also did nothing for the party as their polling booth exposed them badly as far as BJP votes are concerned. When the top brass of the BJP ignored the traditional loyal BJP workers, it gave a negative signal to the common masses that if the BJP top brass can ignore those leaders who laid the foundation of the party and replace them with turncoat and parachute leaders, then expecting something good from them is just a waste of time. At the ground level, the BJP did not have a big renowned face for the party carrying an important organizational position on whom people can trust, but some renowned faces with bigger political capacities were sidelined, and the command of the party was entrusted to some parachute leaders who have no big face value on the ground. The arrogance factor also spoiled the party on the ground, as maximum office bearers of the BJP were seen settling scores with each other. Some of the BJP workers with no strong political history were seen getting the attention of the party because of their wherewithal, but on the ground, their face value among the masses was poor. The top brass of the BJP did not get the true feedback from the ground because those who were running the affairs of the party were seen in a casual state of mind. Due to various internal groups within the party and lack of proper planning, the Poonch unit of the BJP, despite backing of the center and top UT leadership, failed to meet the expectations of the people. Now, due to their foolishness, the nationalist people in the border region, especially in the Poonch district, are feeling helpless because they feel that nobody is at their back. Earlier, the Poonch and Rajouri districts were with the Jammu district, and they had a hope that the MP would address their issues, but after the debacle of joining Poonch and Rajouri with Anantnag, the top BJP leaders left the nationalists to live at the mercy of God. Moreover, the poor approach of the Poonch unit of the BJP in performing well as a team also added the last nail to the coffins of its traditional voters. It’s high time for the top BJP brass to address all the concerns of the nationalists here and shunt out those turncoat leaders who spoiled the credibility of the party to a large extent. Ignoring loyal BJP workers and giving full powers to parachute leaders proved heavy for the party on the ground. One of the turncoat leaders who joined the BJP to protect his illegal business interests after remaining a member of other political parties now has opened an indirect channel of communication to rejoin the old party again. Likewise, more leaders are also planning to shift to their parent parties as they believe that the BJP has no future in the Poonch-Rajouri region. Moreover, big BJP leaders in the Poonch-Rajouri range were also accused of their arrogance by ignoring the public in addressing their day-to-day important works, and this factor also proved heavy for some renowned BJP leaders who lost their seats. The Poonch unit of the BJP has collapsed totally due to internal rivalry, and it’s high time for the top brass of the BJP to trust their traditional cadre and shunt out parachute and turncoat workers who joined the party just to protect their illegal acts. Those who swallowed party funds, those who could not manage votes for the BJP from their polling booths, and those big leaders who were daydreaming like “Mungeri lal” to get big chairs but, at the same time, did not hesitate to backstab the party, have been exposed as they cannot be loyal to the party in the future. Will the top BJP brass of J&K look into the blunders committed on the ground by some BJP workers and leaders in the Poonch-Rajouri region? Only time will tell.