BJP reaches out to Gujjars, Paharis for support to Apni Party ahead of Anantnag poll

Arjun Sharma

Jammu, May 16

As the poll campaigning in the Anantnag Lok Sabha seat becomes fierce with votes to be cast on May 25, the BJP, which is not contesting from the seat, has come out openly in support of Apni Party candidate Zafar Iqbal Manhas.

Leaders of the saffron party, who were earlier only hinting support to the Apni Party candidate, have now started asking their supporters from Pahari and Gujjar communities in Rajouri and Poonch districts of Jammu to support ‘bat’, the symbol of Apni Party.

How parties are canvassing in Rajouri-Poonch

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• Rajouri and Poonch have a significant population of Gujjars and Paharis. While Apni Party candidate Zafar Iqbal Manhas is a Pahari, NC candidate Mian Altaf is a Gujjar leader. Both the leaders are trying to woo their respective communities
• On the other hand, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti is focusing on the entire Anantnag constituency, including areas in Kashmir. Her daughter Iltija Mufti has held multiple roadshows in the region
• Both PDP and NC are attacking the BJP with the “proxy” charge. The Congress, which is supporting the NC candidate, has also attacked the BJP for neglecting connectivity in Rajouri-Poonch

It was an open secret in J&K that Altaf Bukhari-led Apni Party, Sajad Lone-led Peoples Conference (PC) and Ghulam Nabi Azad-led Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) were supporting the BJP. The Tribune had earlier reported that even as the BJP had not fielded any candidate from Anantnag, which also constitutes Rajouri and Poonch districts of Jammu, the party was campaigning in full swing in the region.

During a public meeting in the Surankote area of Poonch, J&K BJP chief Ravinder Raina asked participants to support the “bat”. Interestingly, a candidate of Jammu and Kashmir Nationalist People’s Front, Sheikh Muzafar Ahmed, has been allotted the symbol of “batsman”. Raina asked the participants to be aware of difference between “batsman” and “bat”.

Ravinder Sharma, senior vice-president the Congress, said that the saffron party had also failed to build a railway project to connect the region with other parts.

“A railway project to Poonch was surveyed in 2012 at a cost of Rs 13,000 crore. In addition, a tunnel on Mughal road was proposed to provide all-weather alternate highway road but even after 10 years of BJP rule, these projects have reached nowhere,” he said.