Ahead of the 2019 general elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party has got into poll mode in the Valley as senior BJP leader and former deputy chief minister Kavinder Gupta on Tuesday chaired a meeting here with the Srinagar district unit of BJP.
“All this is in the run up to the 2019 general elections. I asked them to gear up and face the challenge ahead,” Gupta told Greater Kashmir after chairing the meeting of District Unit Srinagar. “We will do such activities that will bring more people in BJP fold in Srinagar. Our meeting would go a long way in strengthening the roots of the party in Srinagar which has traditionally been the bastion of certain regional parties.”
In the last parliamentary elections, National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah had won the Srinagar Lok Sabha bypoll, defeating the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Nazir Khan, by a margin of over 10,700 votes.
The bypoll to the seat was necessitated after the then PDP leader Tariq Hamid Karra resigned from the lower house of parliament in protest against the “atrocities” inflicted on people during the 2016 unrest triggered by the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani.
One of the BJP leaders from Srinagar, who was part of meeting, said that Gupta was not so impressed by the party position in Srinagar. “He asked us to nominate more BJP men here,” he said.
Gupta said in the meeting that the party will work as per the expectations of the people. He hoped that the workers would act to bridge the gap between the party and the people so that an effective feedback is obtained on the policies and programmes of the party. “We don’t want common people to face day to day problems. The party workers are the representatives and role models of the party. Work hard to reach out to the people and bring them into the party fold,” he told party workers, asking him to listen to the grievances of the people and keep the party high command informed. “BJP is committed to address their grievances and genuine issues through proper channel.”
Gupta said that BJP has introduced dozens of centrally sponsored schemes for the welfare of general public. “Spread awareness about these schemes among the people so that maximum people are benefitted,” he said.