Jammu: BJP eyes Gujjars' support with RS nomination of Ghulam Ali

Arjun Sharma

Jammu, September 11

Thanking PM Narendra Modi for his Rajya Sabha nomination, Ghulam Ali Khatana, BJP leader from the Gujjar community, on Sunday said the decision reflected the rise of the last person and also a victory of the poor section of society.

It’s Masterstroke

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The BJP has played a masterstroke against Opposition parties which had been trying to woo the Muslim Gujjars in far-off areas. BJP leader

Gujjars hail move

Leaders of the Gujjar community, which comprises 13-15% of the UT population, have hailed the Centre’s decision to send Khatana to the Rajya Sabha. This will help the saffron party in J&K elections, they say.

Reduced to vote bank

The Gujjar community is one of the largest sections of society but has been used only as vote bank in the past. — Ghulam Ali Khatana, RS nominee from J&k

Lone Rajya Sabha member from J&K

• Ghulam Ali Khatana will be the lone Rajya Sabha member from J&K as all four UT members’ tenure ended in February 2021.
• Elections to vacancies from J&K in the Upper House of Parliament could not be held due to delay in Assembly elections

“PM Modi has kept his promise to uplift the neglected section of society by nominating an ordinary worker from a community which has witnessed neglect over the past 70 years,” he said at a felicitation event at the BJP headquarters in Jammu. BJP’s J&K president Ravinder Raina, MP Jugal Kishore Sharma and others honoured him.

Raina said, “With the nomination of Khatana, the party has given voice to Gujjars in Parliament. The BJP is the true representative of Gujjars and Bakarwals. The parties like Congress, NC and PDP only misused the community.”

An engineer by profession and spokesperson of the BJP’s J&K unit, Khatana hails from Muslim-dominated Bhatindi area. He was nominated as member of the Rajya Sabha on Saturday evening. He will be the lone member from J&K in the Rajya Sabha. All four Rajya Sabha members from J&K had completed their tenure in February 2021. Elections to vacancies from J&K in the Upper House of Parliament could not be held due to delay in Assembly polls.

Meanwhile, his nomination is seen as an attempt of the Central Government to woo the nomads, who constitute a considerable portion of the UT’s population, ahead of Assembly polls. Gujjars comprise 13-15% of the UT population. Leaders of the Gujjar community hailed the Centre’s decision. This would help the saffron party in elections, they said.

Tribal rights activist Javed Rahi, who is also a leader of the community, said nomads of J&K had been ignored in political space for decades and Khatana’s nomination would help fill this vacuum. “After the abrogation of Article 370, we were expecting steps for the betterment of Gujjars and Bakarwals. This decision is historic for the tribal population,” said Rahi.

Khatana will be the second Gujjar leader from J&K to enter the Rajya Sabha after Choudhary Mohammad Aslam. He had joined the BJP in 2008 when few Muslim faces used to support the saffron party in Jammu. His nomination is also being seen as a prize for his loyalty to the party. “With his nomination, the BJP has played a masterstroke against Opposition parties that were trying to woo the Muslim Gujjars in far off areas,” said a BJP leader who did not want to be named.