After the Kashmir Assembly elections, the BJP is once again active in the Kashmir Valley. The party decided to start a membership drive after the elections in the valley. Party leader Ashok Bhatt said they aim to have 100,000 party members in each district. Membership will be offered first in a virtual mode and then in an offline mode.
Ashok Bhatt said there were already 600,000 workers in Kashmir and the number has since reached around 1.6 million and now it has to be increased further through this membership drive. He said the target is to create about 8,000 workers in each assembly constituency of the valley.
BJP weak in Kashmir Valley
The BJP did not achieve the expected success in the assembly elections held after revoking Article 370 of Jammu and Kashmir and abrogating the state’s special status. The party had hoped to get benefits in the Valley after the abrogation of Article 370, but the opposite happened. Even in the Lok Sabha elections, the party did not field any candidate in the Valley.
The party also maintained the same status in the assembly elections. The BJP fielded candidates in only 19 seats, while the party did not field any candidate in 28 seats. Opposition parties, the National Congress and the People’s Democratic Party had quipped that the BJP would not be looking for candidates in the valley, but the party termed it a strategic decision and said these seats were being excluded due to such political reasons.
Parliamentary elections face failure
The BJP suffered a defeat in the recently held state assembly elections. Out of the 90 seats in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly, the National Conference won 42 seats, the Bharatiya Janata Party won 29 seats, the Congress won 6 seats and the People’s Democratic Party won 3 seats.
In terms of vote share, the Bharatiya Janata Party was the largest party with 25.64% of the votes in the state, while the National Congress got 23.43% of the votes. The BJP performed well in Jammu region but fared poorly in Kashmir with 47 seats, failing to secure a majority in the state.
