The Jammu and Kashmir unit of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has coined a new slogan—”Kashmir badalrahahai”— to woo people into the party fold with an eye on the upcoming Assembly polls.
The slogan was raised by the senior BJP leader Sat Sharmaduring party’s membership drive here on Tuesday. The BJP started the drive on 6July and it will culminate on 10 August. The final target set by the party for the J&K is three lakh newmembers with an aim to win at least five seats in Kashmir region.
“The ongoing membership drive is going on successfully andpeople including political activists of other parties are feeling proud to jointhe BJP,” said party’s general secretary (organization) Ashok Koul.
He said the BJP was hopeful that it will cross the settarget of three lakh members. “The way people are showing enthusiasm to joinBJP it seems that we will cross the set mark,” he added.
Another BJP leader said that on the first day ofcommencement of party’s membership drive in Srinagar, at least 8000 people,including political activists of various parties joined the party. “This isobviously a good sign,” he said. “We are expecting that at least 40,000 peoplefrom Srinagar would join us in the coming days given our clear vision andpro-peace and development agenda.”
About the new slogan raised in Srinagar, BJP’s state spokesmanAltaf Thakur said that it was not a mere slogan but a reality. “Kashmir ischanging and change is being witnessed on ground in our membership programs.People are flooding our functions to get enrolled,” Thakur said.
He said response from the people in Srinagar has beenoverwhelming. “We are sure that we will cross the set target which wouldultimately help us win many seats in Kashmir during upcoming Assembly polls,”Thakur said.
Pertinently, in 2014 Assembly polls, the BJP failed to openits account in Kashmir but won 25 seats from Jammu region alone. However, inthe recently concluded LokSabha polls, the BJP swept the elections in Jammu bywinning both parliamentary seats and also the Ladakh seat. The BJP claimed that17 lakh people voted party’s favour and it was going to emerge as a singlelargest party in the upcoming Assembly polls slated later this year.