Hope new govt will come down hard on terrorism and separatism in J&K: BJP’s Ravinder Raina

JAMMU: Asserting that his party will fulfil its responsibility as the main opposition in Jammu and Kashmir, BJP unit chief Ravinder Raina on Wednesday said he hoped the NC-led government will come down hard on terrorism and separatism, and there will be peace and brotherhood.

He also said that the poor performance of the BJP-backed Independent candidates and some like-minded parties in Kashmir was the reason behind the National Conference-Congress coalition hitting the majority mark.

“The BJP came out with its best-ever performance by winning 29 assembly seats and getting the highest vote share. We are thankful to the people and also acknowledge the role of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and party president J P Nadda in this spectacular performance,” Raina said.

The J&K BJP chief was speaking to reporters at the party headquarters here.

Raina, who lost the assembly election from his home constituency Nowshera in Rajouri district to the National Conference’s Surinder Choudhary, said the BJP was eyeing 35 seats and planning to form the government with the party-supported Independents and like-minded groups from Kashmir.

“The performance of those Independents and parties was not up to the mark and they all lost to the coalition candidates. My good wishes to all the winning candidates. We hope the government which is going to be formed will work for the public interest and there will be peace, prosperity and brotherhood,” the BJP leader said.

He also expressed hope that the government would hit separatism and terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir hard.

Raina said the Modi-led government transformed J&K, leading to an overall improvement in the security situation and development.

“The new government has to pay special attention and ensure that there is no harm to the hard-earned peace in J&K which was made possible by the efforts of Modi and the Union home minister over the last 10 years,” he added.

The BJP leader said the coalition government is expected to do justice to the people and regularise daily wagers as per their manifesto.

“BJP winners will fulfil their responsibility in the new assembly. They will raise public issues with full might and ensure that the grievances of the people are addressed. BJP is promise-bound to peace, prosperity and nationalism,” Raina said, adding the newly elected legislators of the party will meet soon to devise the future course of action.

He said the Union home minister and Nadda telephoned him to convey their congratulations on the BJP’s performance.

“The Congress and the National Conference were virtually cleaned up from the Jammu region. The BJP’s performance in Kashmir was also worth taking note. The party got over two lakh votes in Rajouri and Poonch where it was not even able to find a candidate to fight the elections previously. People supported the party and we are thankful to them,” Raina said.

On his loss from the Nowshera segment, Raina said he was hopeful of a win and “we will sit and look into the reason for our loss”.

“The people of Nowshera gave over 27,000 votes to the BJP which is much higher compared to the 2014 assembly election. After the delimitation in 2022, a large portion of the constituency was shifted to Sunderbani-Kalakote constituency which the party won by a huge margin of over 20,000 votes,” he said. (PTI)