Early Times Report
Jammu, Feb 11: The BJP of today is not the Jan Sangh of SP Mookerjee, Pt Prem Nath Dogra and Prof Balraj Madhok, which would never compromise its ideology and which would admit to the party persons committed to its ideology and the nation. The today's BJP is an altogether different organization and it can go to any extent to remain relevant at least in Jammu province which elects 37 MLAs to the 87-member J&K Legislative Assembly. It doesn't mind accepting anyone if this anyone, according to it, has the potential of getting a few votes for the party. The today's BJP is so desperate to win a few seats in Jammu province that it is readmitting some of those who changed colours again and again to promote their own selfish interests and further their own personal agendas and those whose ideology was, and is, power and only power.
The latest example is the admission of Jagdish Raj Sapolia of Basohli, who rejoined the BJP on Saturday hoping that he would get the party mandate and contest the assembly election from the Basohli constituency. He rejoined the party after Lal Singh, former minister in the PDP-BJP coalition government, floated his own outfit, declared that his party would contest both the Lok Sabha seats and 37 assembly seats in Jammu and reiterated that his party would work for the protection and promotion of the "Dogra cause", "Dogra culture" and "Dogra respect" and that it would also fight out those who perpetrated on the people of Jammu province injustice after injustice.
Jagdish Sapolia has changed parties a number of times. He started his inning as a Congressman and became MLA. Then, he quit the Congress and joined the BJP. Not just this, he also joined the PDP and contested election on its ticket but suffered a humiliating defeat. Convinced that he had no future in the PDP, he quit the PDP and again joined the BJP. He won the Basohli assembly election on BJP ticket. He again quit the BJP after the party gave mandate to Lal Singh. Actually, Sapolia had been thrown out of the party on the ground that he, along with other BJP MLAs, had allegedly cross voted in favour of the NC candidate during the Rajya Sabha polls. After his suspension/expulsion from the BJP, Sapolia rejoined the Congress, which he again quit on February 9 to rejoin the BJP. Insiders say that the "party has promised to give him ticket to contest the forthcoming assembly elections from Basohli constituency". |
