BJP president’s rally gets muted response

Amit Khajuria

Tribune News Service

Jammu, February 24

BJP national president Amit Shah’s rally in Jammu on Sunday to pay tributes to Pulwama martyrs turned out to be a low-key affair as not many locals attended it.

A majority of the people were not aware of Shah arriving in the city. Even those who knew about his visit were not keen to attend the rally at Bhagwati Nagar. People, who till now have not come out of the shock of killing of 40 CRPF men in Pulwama, termed the rally as a politically motivated effort from the BJP to garner votes for the upcoming parliamentary elections. “What will the BJP national president say on Pulwama martyrs? We are not expecting any strong decision from him regarding giving Pakistan a befitting reply for its cowardly act of killing our troops,” said Rakesh Gupta, a student. Similar views were echoed by other residents, including shopkeepers and traders, who also termed the rally a political stunt. “We expect the government to take action against terrorists and Pakistan. I do not expect any hard rebuttal from the president of the ruling party,” said Subhash Chander, a shopkeeper at Bakshi Nagar. “What Shah said today was a copy of earlier BJP statements. Now we want action not just condemnation,” said Sunil Anand, who attended the rally.