Early Times Report
Jammu, Sept 24: Although the second phase of elections will decide the fate of political stalwarts of Jammu and Kashmir, BJP’s stakes are very high among all political parties for this phase as the party is hoping to reap the political benefit of its historic decision.
Out of the total 11 Assembly seats of Jammu province which are going for polling on Wednesday, the BJP is hoping to win the maximum of these segments.
After granting Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to the ethnic Pahari tribe and political reservations to the Gujjars and Bakerwals, the BJP is confident of creating history in the twin border districts of Poonch and Rajouri which both Gujjar-Bakerwals and Paharis are a dominate force.
First time in the political history of Jammu and Kashmir, the BJP won two assembly seats in this mountainous belt when the incumbent party president Ravinder Raina won elections from the Nowshera assembly segment in 2014 and Abdul Gani Kohli emerged victorious from the Kalakot seat.
This time, the ruling BJP has utilized all its resources to win seats in the border districts of Poonch and Rajouri to increase its overall tally.
Apart from Nowshera and Kalakote-Sunderbani BJP has utilized all its resources to win Rajouri, Thanamandi, Budhal, Surankot, Mendhar and Poonch-Havali seats.
The seriousness of the BJP to win elections in this belt can be gauged from the fact that Union Home Minister Amit BJP’s stakes are very high in the 2nd phase as the party is hoping to reap the political benefit of its historic decision.
Of 11 Assembly seats of Jammu province which are going for polling on Wednesday, the BJP is hoping to win the maximum of these segments.
The BJP is confident of creating history in the twin border districts of Poonch and Rajouri in which both Gujjar-Bakerwals and Paharis are a dominant force.
The BJP has mobilized all its resources to win seats in the border districts of Poonch and Rajouri to increase its overall tally.
Paharis became the first linguistic group to get Scheduled Tribe status in the country.
While addressing a rally at the border town of Rajouri of Jammu and Kashmir on October 4, 2022 Union Home Minister Amit Shah had promised that the Pahari-speaking people of Jammu and Kashmir will get Scheduled Tribe (ST) status. He, however, announced that ST status would be granted to Paharies, but not at the cost of the rights of existing scheduled tribes of the Union Territory.
The Union Minister assured like Gujjar and Bakerwals, Paharis will also get ST status as it was the long pending demand of this community. He, however, assured Gujjars and Bakerwals that this decision would not dilute the rights of the communities that are already enjoying the ST status.
“There will be no effect on the reservation of Gujjars and Bakewals even by one percent," Shah had assured.
The Gujjars, who already have a reservation under the ST category, had apprehensions that granting the ST status to the Paharis would dilute their quota. | 