Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has appointed Minister of State for Finance, Anurag Thakur, as election incharge for District Development Council polls in J&K even as party General Secretary Tarun Chugh is arriving here Tuesday.
Thakur was appointed by BJP president J P Nadda and the order was signed by party National General Secretary Arun Singh. Thakur has been assigned two deputies including BJP spokesperson Syed Shahnawaz Hussain and Haryana MP Sanjay Bhatia.
Thakur, the 43-year-old lawmaker from Himachal Pradesh, was appointed as the BJP’s chief whip in the Lok Sabha in 2018 during monsoon session.
Elections for the District Development Councils in Jammu and Kashmir will be held in 8 phases from November 28 to December 22.
Earlier, the BJP won the local body elections in Ladakh, which it termed as an endorsement of abrogation of Article 370 and splitting the erstwhile J&K state into two Union Territories, by the central government.
The J&K local body elections assume significance as this is the first electoral exercise since the abrogation of J&K’s special status last year.
Meanwhile, BJP General Secretary Tarun Chugh is arriving here on Tuesday in connection with the DCC polls.
Chug will take an overall review of preparedness for the DDC polls in Kashmir and meet BJP leaders here.
Senior BJP leaders here said that Chug will be addressing party leaders and workers at two different places in Srinagar on Tuesday.
“In the morning, he will address a meeting of leaders and workers at hotel Kungposh,” a senior BJP leader said here. “Late in the afternoon he will be addressing another group of BJP leaders and workers in Tagore hall.”