Early Times Report
JAMMU, June 17: Will the BJP repeat its 2014 performance in 2019 and 2020? This is the question that is haunting the BJP itself. The BJP is faced with its rapidly eroding popularity across India, including Jammu and Ladakh. The BJP has no support-base whatsoever in Kashmir because of its demographic profile. The BJP had won all the three Lok Sabha seats from Jammu and Ladakh.
Convinced that the BJP may perform very poorly in the 2019 general elections and the 2020 Assembly elections in J&K, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has, as per credible sources, "stepped in to help the party renew its message and recover its appeal".
"In the run-up to the state assembly polls in 2014, the BJP had made promises on a number of polarizing issues, including scrapping Article 370, that grants separate status to J&K on the ground that it is Muslim-majority state and ending the hegemony of Kashmir over the Hindu-majority Jammu region. Youth in Jammu were also promised jobs, a particularly sensitive subject given the perception that the majority of jobs go to Kashmir," credible sources said.
At the same time, the sources even within the BJP say that "the decision of the BJP soon after winning a record 25 seats in the Jammu region to form a coalition government with the People's Democratic Party (PDP) came as a shock to the people of Jammu who considered the PDP a Kashmir-centric party".
It is a fact that many issues became flashpoints between the Jammu province and Kashmir Valley. The BJP was unable to resolve these flashpoints in Jammu's favour, and that undermined its credibility with its supporters. People in Jammu say "the BJP has knelt before its alliance partner PDP and agreed to whatever it wanted for the sake of sharing power".
Widespread anger in Jammu province is visible even on the official Facebook page of the state unit of BJP where the party was lambasted for "towing the line of the PDP and not allowing a CBI probe into the incident". It was at the behest of the PDP that the BJP leadership forced two of its ministers - Lal Singh and CP Ganga - put in their papers in April.
Only recently, the RSS demanded the deportation of Rohingya intruders, who have been staying "illegally" in parts of Jammu province, particularly since 2008, when the NC-Congress coalition was at the helm of affairs in the state. The RSS had termed the Rohingyas "a threat to the integrity of the nation". However, the BJP had remained tight-lipped over the issue despite several political and social organizations demanding the same. Leave aside a few vague statements made by a Union Minister and other local BJP leaders.
It was prant sanghchalak of the RSS, Brigadier (Retd.), Suchet Singh who had said: "The Rohingya enter India illegally and they should be deported immediately. Rohingya migrants are a threat not only to Jammu but also to the nation".
Sources say that "issues, including illegal Rohingya settlers, alleged Kathua rape and murder case and discrimination against the Jammu region were discussed by one senior RSS leader" and that "he took feedback to be discussed with other senior functionaries of RSS". "All there are attempts on the part of the RSS to help the BJP at the grass-roots level and enable it to put up a good show in the forthcoming general and assembly elections".
However, BJP watchers say that "mere meetings of RSS will not help the BJP" and that "if the BJP is to perform well in 2019, it has to show results on the ground". |
