Other States - Jammu & Kashmir   

BJP's poll plan runs into rough weather

By Our Staff Reporter

JAMMU AUG. 23. The Bharatiya Janata Party, which has made alleged discrimination against the Jammu region as its main poll plank for the coming Assembly elections, is facing a challenge from unexpected quarters.

The Jammu State Morcha, an alliance of eight groups, propped up by the RSS, has threatened to fight the party in the elections. This has made the BJP leadership soften its stand on issues such as trifurcation. It has also decided to go in for an alliance with the morcha but its offer of seat adjustment was cold-shouldered. The morcha announced its candidates for six constituencies the same day the BJP president, Venkaiah Naidu, made it known in New Delhi about the party's plan to go in for seat adjustment with the morcha. The six seats where it is contesting are Jammu East, Jammu West, Nowshera, Khour, R.S. Pura and Vijaypur.

Talking to The Hindu, Tilak Raj Sharma, general secretary of the morcha and a candidate for Jammu East, said, "we are not at all in touch with the BJP on the adjustments of seats. None of them would withdraw and if the BJP is interested in seat adjustments it could be done only in the remaining seats".

Most of these six seats are BJP strongholds and the seat adjustment in the other seats will neither help the BJP nor the morcha, a senior BJP leader said. Even the process of seat adjustment will not be easy as most of the morcha leadership is composed of erstwhile BJP leadership which is at loggerheads with the Minister of State for Defence, Chaman Lal Gupta, who has been appointed chairman of the election committee and is likely to lead the parleys with the morcha. The expulsion of Chowdhary Pyara Singh — BJP MLA from Jammu Cantonment — on Thursday, for his alleged hobnobbing with the ruling National Conference, has also come as a setback to the party.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Other States

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• Inquiry ordered into Doda fire
• BJP's poll plan runs into rough weather
• 'Third Front' formed in J&K
• Discontent in NC over distribution of ticket

Copyright © 2002, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu