A first: Paharis, Gujjars vying for 5 reserved seats in Rajouri, Poonch

It will be for the first time that candidates belonging to two different communities — Paharis and Gujjars — will be contesting on five reserved seats for Scheduled Tribes (ST) out of a total of eight in the twin border districts of Rajouri and Poonch.

The Pahari-speaking people of Rajouri and Poonch, along with three other groups, were granted reservation under the ST category early this year that was opposed by the Gujjar community, which has already been enjoying reservation since 1990s, on the perceived danger of dilution of reservation. However, the UT administration gave 10 per cent separate reservation in the fields of education and employment to the four groups without affecting the quota of Gujjars.

The Pahari ethnic group, along with Gadda Brahmans, Kolis and Paddris were given reservation under the ST category. The seats of Rajouri town, Thannamandi, Budhal in Rajouri district, and Surankot and Mendhar in Poonch were reserved for the STs by the Delimitation Commission in 2022.

The BJP believed that the reservation of the four groups, especially the Paharis, would brighten their prospects in winning in the Lok Sabha elections held this year. However, the BJP’s proxy Apni Party’s candidate, who had contested from Anantnag Lok Sabha constituency, was not even able to save his security deposit from getting forfeited. The Apni Party had fielded Zaffar Iqbal Manhas, a Pahari, from the seat. However, National Conference candidate Mian Altaf, a Gujjar, won the elections. The BJP did not field any candidate for the seat in Lok Sabha poll.

Insiders in the saffron party say during the Lok Sabha elections, the party did not directly contest the elections from the Anantnag seat and the votes in Rajouri and Poonch got divided. “However, now our candidates are contesting the Assembly poll on all eight seats in the twin districts. We are sure that Paharis and Gujjars will vote for us,” said a senior leader of the party.

To pacify the members of the Gujjar community, senior party leaders, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah, have repeatedly said during their rallies that the BJP-led government provided separate reservation for Paharis and Gujjars, thus not affecting the quota of the latter.

However, Gujjar organisations have given a plea that Paharis should not have been allowed to contest on the total of nine seats in J&K reserved for the STs. A memorandum was also sent to the Election Commission by Gujjar under the banner of ‘All J&K Gujjar-Bakerwal Organisation Co-ordination Committee’, seeking the prohibition of Paharis from contesting on the reserved seats.

The BJP has fielded a prominent Gujjar face from Budhal, Choudhary Zulfikar Ali, who recently joined the party from the Apni Party. Another Congress leader and prominent Gujjar face Choudhary Abdul Ghani joined the BJP last month and has been fielded from Poonch Haveli. The party has also fielded Murtaza Ahmed Khan, a Pahari, who was previously associated with the PDP from Mendhar. The joining of these three leaders in Rajouri and Poonch had created furore among the cadre of party.