Rising Unrest Within Kashmir BJP Raises Concerns of Revolt
Kashmir BJP leaders are apparently discontent with new leaders from Jammu taking over key positions within the party in the Valley.
The Jammu and Kashmir unit of Bharatiya Janata Party is facing rebellion in Kashmir again, days after the situation was pacified by state unit chief Ravinder Raina. Jammu and Kashmir BJP in-charge Tarun Chugh is said to have stepped in to tackle th situation.
Sources within the party told that BJP national general secretary and Jammu and Kashmir BJP in-charge Tarun Chugh spoke to BJP Jammu and Kashmir president Ravinder Raina and general secretary (organisation) Ashok Koul and has directed them to resolve the simmering discontent among party leaders in Kashmir Valley. He has conveyed that the rebellion be controlled at the earliest by the state unit without collateral damage to party’s image as urban and local body elections are around the corner.
One of the rebel leaders, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, “We have conveyed to state party leadership many a times that the Kashmir unit if facing challenging times. The party has time and again ignored senior leaders and are trying to give preference to new ones which won’t be accepted by those who have given their lives (to the party). No one has spoken to us so far this time. We are ready for talks that can bring solution.”
Another rebel leader told that those leaders who have been rejected by Jammu and don’t even have their own constituency are being given charge of key assignments in Kashmir which is not acceptable to him. “If it is being portrayed that we are against Jammu, we are not. We wholeheartedly welcome leaders like Ravinder Raina, Ashok Koul, Nirmal Singh, Kavinder Gupta and others but those who don’t have ground Jammu aren’t acceptable to us,” he added.
This is for the second time the saffron party has faced rebellion in its Kashmir unit within a month with leaders threatening to leave the party. On August 8, over 50 senior leaders of the party claimed they were being ignored by the organisation. Ravinder Raina rushed to Kashmir to pacify the leaders cutting short his Rajouri-Poonch tour.
After holding several rounds of meetings with leaders who have shown resentment, Ravinder Raina, on August 11, divested three senior party functionaries of their organisational responsibilities in Kashmir Valley and asked them to report at party headquarters at Trikuta Nagar. BJP leader Abhijeet Jasrotia was relieved from the responsibility as Social Media Prabhari and was moved out of Kashmir province. Vir Saraf and Mudasir Wani were called back from South and North Kashmir respectively and asked to report at Trikuta Nagar office. Source
