BJP puts off J&K cabinet rejig, tells MLAs to buck up

AMIT SHAH PRESIDED OVER A MEETING OF JAMMU LEADERS AND TOLD THEM TO COUNTER DISENCHANTMENT WITH BJP AMONG THE PEOPLE OF JAMMU & KASHMIR

NEWDELHI: The BJP has put off a cabinet reshuffle in Jammu and Kashmir for now but has told its leaders in the state to get their act together in order to ensure that the party does not lose the electoral gains it made in the last assembly elections.

On Tuesday, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah presided over a meeting of party legislators from Jammu and is learnt to have told them to counter the growing disenchantment with party among the residents of strife-torn Jammu and Kashmir.

“The party high command wants the state leaders to focus on countering the negative perceptions about the BJP,” a source told Hindustan Times.

The high command has told its leaders in the state to focus on BJP’s priorities of flushing out terrorism from the Valley and delivering on the development agenda underlined by Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of the 2019 general elections.

Consequently, issues that run contrary to the BJP-People’s Democratic Party (PDP) coalition government’s alliance agenda, like the abrogation of Article 370 and the tussle over not declaring a holiday on the birth anniversary of Maharaja Hari Singh, have been put on the back burner.

The party’s Jammu and Kashmir unit had earlier submitted complaints against a few state ministers to the brass and the issue was also raised at meetings held in Jammu with general secretary (organisation) Ram Lal, state in-charge Ram Madhav and home minister Rajnath Singh.

Sources told Hindustan Times that the ministers, who had submitted a report of their performance, were told that the party needs to redouble its efforts to ensure it does not lose ground in the state. Jammu legislators who had been demanding a larger role in the cabinet have been asked to focus on strengthening the party’s base and increasing its reach with the voters.

While the BJP has 25 MLAs in the assembly, there has been consternation in the regions of Jammu and Ladakh over the ‘tardy pace’ of development and lack of job opportunities for the youth.

While the government has sharpened its response to cross border infiltration and ceasefire violations, it still has to address the problems of migration from the border areas

Ahead of party’s national executive meeting, which concluded on Monday, there were speculation of a cabinet reshuffle in the state with more faces from Jammu region being given important berths. But sources told Hindustan Times that the rejig has been postponed and there are no plans as of now to replace Nirmal Singh as the deputy chief minister.