BJP wooing separatists to win J&K assembly polls

Srinagar: The BJP’s “Mission Kashmir” – getting a majority in India’s only Muslim majority state – appears to hinge on roping in Kashmiri separatists and fringe political groups. 

For the first time, the party is fielding candidates for most of the 87 seats in the state. The former separatists and fringe groups are expected to help the party. In Kashmir Valley they are forging tactical alliance with these groups for post poll alliance and to divide the Muslim vote in Muslim-majority areas, especially in Chenab and Pir Panjal regions. 

Last week, senior BJP and RSS leader Ram Madhav held a series of meetings with various political groups in Srinagar. Among the prominent leaders he met was Sajjad Lone, chief of the Jammu and Kashmir People’s Conference. 
 
Lone said he had been open to an alliance with any national party, but “no Congress leader ever wanted to meet me”. 
 
” BJP is a better option compared to Congress. If BJP leaders want to meet us, we welcome them and exchange ideas,” he said. 
 

But this was not Lone’s first contact with BJP — two months ago, he had met the party general secretary JP Nadda.
 
Sources said BJP would not field a candidate against Lone in his constituency Handwara. Lone called it a “welcome step”.
 
But separatists are not the only group BJP is counting on. 
 
The Kashmiri Pandit community, too, is seen as a crucial vote-bank in Kashmir Valley. Given the boycott call issued by separatists against the state elections, this vote-bank could even be a deciding factor. The party already has a strong base in the Hindu-dominated areas of Jammu.
 
The party released its first list of 45 candidates – 13 of them Muslims – on Sunday.
 
In Amira Kadal constituency in Srinagar, the Kashmiri Pandit community constitutes around 12% of the electorate. “I hope everyone votes for BJP – displaced Pandits, Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs,” said Dr Hina Shafi Bhat, a local party candidate.