Avtar Bhat
JAMMU, Oct 27: In a historical move, BJP for the first time since its formation after the split of Janata Party is holding the two days State Working Committee meeting in Kashmir valley from tomorrow.
The Working Committee meeting which will be attended by over 300 delegates of the Party across the State including Ladakh region is aimed at expanding Party’s base beyond Jammu region where from BJP has won 25 Assembly seats in the last elections held in 2014.
The BJP after Jammu is eyeing the Kashmir Valley and Ladakh region to broaden its base in the State so that it will emerge as a party to reckon with in these two regions of the State also.
According to Party sources the BJP which is the largest political party in the country has also increased its membership in Kashmir Valley since it came to power over three years back at Centre. Presently the total membership as per the party sources in Kashmir Valley is over 3.50 lakh which was some thousands earlier. Elated with the increasing public support in Kashmir Valley and Ladakh regions, the BJP has termed the meet a historic development.
Over 300 BJP activists including members of Working Committee drawn from different parts of the State will participate in the meet which will be preceded by office bearers meeting beginning tomorrow to set the agenda for the Working Committee and finalise the resolutions to be adopted in it.
The BJP has involved activists from Kashmir valley in party affairs fully and assigned the task of all arrangements for the Working Committee meeting to its leaders from Valley, party sources said.
There is a lot of enthusiasm among the party activists from Valley as they are being involved in entire exercise for two days including making of arrangements for delegates their boarding and lodging to make them feel that they are part and parcel of the party, sources added.
The prevailing situation in the Valley, holding of dialogue process with stakeholders and conducting of raids on militant leaders involved in receiving terror funding through Hawala channels will be the main agenda of BJP’s two days State Working Committee meeting, sources said.
Almost all senior BJP leaders from the State including Party national vice president Avinash Rai Khanna reached Srinagar today. Sources said Party national general secretary Ram Madhav and Minister of State in PMO, Dr Jitendra Singh are also attending the Working Committee meet.
Sources said while Madhav will reach Srinagar tomorrow, Dr Jitendra Singh will visit the summer capital on October 29.
Sources said that the BJP in its political resolution, which will be finalized in office bearers meeting tomorrow and put for adaptation in the Working Committee meet next day among other things will deliberate over the prevailing Valley situation which is slowly returning to normalcy.
The resolution will also discuss the role of Dineshwar Sharma, former Director IB who has been appointed its Special Representative by Central Government for continuing substantial dialogue process with stake holders. The resolution will discuss the role of National Investigation Agency (NIA) which has raided various militant leaders and secessionists who had been receiving terror funds through Hawala channels. It will fully endorse that the raids by NIA which is a statutory body should continue and there should be no linking of the same with holding of sustainable dialogue by Centre’s representative.
The Party resolution will make it clear that holding of dialogue and conducting or raids on anti national elements are two separate things and those who are involved in anti-national activities have to face the action under law while those who want talks for restoration of peace in the Valley are welcome, sources added.
Sources said that the Agenda of Alliance (AoA) will also come into debate during the meet and BJP will strongly plead for rotational reservation of seven Assembly Constituencies in the State in next Assembly elections slated to be held in 2020 which has not been done during last 24 years.
These seven Assembly constituencies in Jammu region were reserved for SC candidates in 1996 and since then no change had been made in it, sources said, adding PDP-BJP Agenda of Alliance had agreed the rotational reservations of the constituencies, sources added.
In addition to it, the Party will also adopt a resolution on grant of rights to West Pakistan refugees in the State on humanitarian grounds as has also been agreed in AOA. The BJP has been pressing for this demand right for last 70 years and Party has also made promises with these refugees in this regard, sources added.
Sources said the rehabilitation of Kashmiri migrants in Valley with honour and dignity as well as expediting the compensation in favour of PoJK refugees will also form the part of political resolution.
The State Working Committee will also review the developmental process in the State and stress on intensification of work on various public welfare projects and schemes.
The office bearers meeting tomorrow, besides the BJP office bearers of the State will also be attended by Morcha presidents. While the State Executive will meet at SKICC Srinagar, the office bearers meeting will be held at PHE Guest House, sources said.
Meanwhile, elaborate security arrangements have been made both at PHE Guest House and SKICC by the Government. The BJP flags are flying on both sides of road right from Srinagar Air Port to Boulevard to SKICC.
The BJP State president, Sat Sharma and other party leaders will reach Srinagar tomorrow while party general secretary (Org), Ashok Koul, general secretaries , Dr Narinder Singh and Pawan Khajuria, BJP vice president, Yudhvir Sethi and secretary Sanjay Baru reached Srinagar today.
Soon after their arrival in summer capital they held a meeting with the office bearers of Valley and took stock of the arrangements. Vice Chairperson, SC, ST, BC Corporation, Balbir Ram Rattan was already in Srinagar and he too participated in the meeting. The BJP leaders from Valley who attended the meeting included Dr Ali Mohammed Mir, Altaf Thakur, Arif Raja, Veer Saraf, Ashok Bhat, M M War, Nazir Gilkar, Asif Masoodi, Bilal Parray, Zubair Nazir, Sheikh Rashid and others.
Ashok Koul while giving details of the meet said that there is lot of enthusiasm among the party activists of Kashmir as they are being involved in the entire exercise for two days and most of them have been assigned a particular task so that everything is conducted in a very cooperative and friendly atmosphere.
He said the party activists from other parts of State will also get an opportunity to meet their party colleagues of Kashmir and share their political and organizational experiences and ideas with them.
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