Jammu, July 11: Following a drop in its vote share in the Jammu region in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is exploring new alliances in Jammu and Kashmir ahead of the upcoming state assembly elections in the union territory.
In the Indian Lok Sabha elections, the BJP did not field candidates in three Kashmir seats: Srinagar, Baramulla, and Rajouri-Anantnag. Instead, it openly supported Altaf Bukhari’s Apni Party and covertly backed Sajjad Lone’s People’s Conference in these seats. But neither party was able to make an impact, leading the BJP to look for new allies.
A senior BJP leader, requesting anonymity, told Rising Kashmir that the party high command is actively in talks with top leaders in the J&K unit and is looking for potential allies. “The aim is to enable the BJP to form government in J&K after the state assembly elections. The party is collecting feedback from local leaders regarding possible allies,” he said.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president JP Nadda discussed the issue at length during his recent visit to Jammu and sought input on a potential alliance.
“The BJP top brass will support the party which can win maximum seats in Kashmir,” the leader said, adding: “As per reports, the top brass is considering regional parties like the National Conference (NC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) based on a proposal from the Jammu and Kashmir unit.”
