| BJP ditched Ladakh, Ladakh decimated it | | Message for MoS in PMO | | Early Times Report
Jammu, Oct 20: It's true that the BJP swept ULB polls in South Kashmir. But it is also true that the people of Kashmir had boycotted the polls at the instance of separatists and parties like the NC and the PDP didn't contest elections. Of course, victory is a victory but not the kind of victory the BJP could celebrate. The BJP won many seats unopposed and it will now control in Kashmir half a dozen municipal councils and municipal committees.
The poll outcome in Kashmir is not that significant given the fact that it was virtually a no election. What is important are the two messages for the BJP, one each from Ladakh and Kathua-Udhampur-Doda Lok Sabha constituency.
In Ladakh, not just the Shia-majority Kargil district showed the BJP its place, but the Buddhist-majority Leh district also decimated the BJP and decimated it 100 per cent. In Kargil, the BJP had a little or no stake given its demographics, but in Leh, the BJP was the main stakeholder for two reasons. One was that the lone Ladakh LS seat was represented in the Lok Sabha by the BJP's Thupstan Chhewang. Not just this, the BJP had been at the helm of affairs in the Autonomous Hill Development Council, Leh, for years. It controlled almost 2/3rd seats in the autonomous council.
That the BJP would not win even one seat out of 13 seats in the just-held Leh Municipal Council elections and that the Congress would win all could be construed as a defeat that the BJP will never remember for years. As for Kargil, the Congress wining 5 seats, independents 8 and BJP drawing a blank should not surprise anyone. It was expected that the Kargil would reject the BJP outright and it happened, notwithstanding the fact that many BJP leaders from Jammu camped at Kargil for days.
The people of Ladakh rejected the BJP because the BJP had gone back on its commitment that it, if voted to power, will grant UT status to Ladakh. It did win the LS seat and it also won the Hill Council elections hands down, but it ditched them after snatching votes from them. No wonder, the people of Leh taught BJP a lesson.
The message of Ladakh for the BJP is loud and clear. The message is: You ditched us, we decimated you.
The other most significant aspect is the verdict given by the people of Kathua, Udhampur, Reasi, Doda, Ramban and Kishtwar. The voters virtually rejected the BJP in all these districts, which are being represented by the BJP MP, who holds an important portfolio in the Prime Minister's Office. Hiranagar, Katra, Reasi and Batote were the only towns where the people vote for the BJP candidates in the ULB elections, but even in these towns, the victory of the BJP was not really very remarkable. The BJP won could just win these four municipal councils. In all other towns, including the ones by the BJP MLAs and once represented by BJP ministers, the performance of the BJP was just dismal.
Again, the message for the BJP is loud and clear. The message is that the BJP's "appeasement policy" has failed the people, the state and the BJP itself.
Its only Jammu district and Rajouri districts Sunderbani and Nowshera which helped the BJP save its face. It is hoped that the BJP think-tanks will sit up, look back, retrospect and urge the party high command and the Prime Minister to review their J&K policy, which is essentially Kashmir and one-community-centric. |
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