Amir Tantray
Jammu, Jun 6: While the opposition was dreaming of consolidating the Muslim votes of Chenab valley entirely, Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) Muslim faces of Chenab valley ensured that they provide the saffron the space among the community.
This was seen during the recently concluded general elections when BJP managed to get a handful Muslim votes in the region, and especially in Kishtwar district.
BJP’s Dr. Jitendra Singh defeated Congress party’s Choudhary Lal Singh from Udhampur parliamentary constituency by a margin of over 1.24 lakh votes thus making his entry into the Lok Sabha for the third consecutive term.
BJP was able to retain all the 10 Assembly segments of Kathua and Udhampur districts whereas from eight Assembly segments of Chenab valley, the saffron party managed to get a lead in four segments, which included Kishtwar, Padder-Nagseni, Doda West and Ramban.
In Kishtwar district, the mood swing is being attributed to Muslim faces of BJP like Firdous Bhawani and Mansoor Ahmed who have worked tirelessly to provide BJP space in Muslim dominated areas where the party used to be untouchable.
Firdous Bhawani, who is also heading Kishtwar waqf, said that for the last one year they have been reaching out to the people in every nook and corner of the district with the developmental agenda of BJP led government and it has started bearing fruits.
“There were some pockets where BJP was not getting a single vote in the past but this time we have been able to get votes in double digits from these areas. And those areas where BJP in 2019 got some 20 odd votes, this time we have been able to reach the three-figure mark,” Bhawani said.
“Not only that but in the Inderwal Assembly segment, which once used to be the fortress of Ghulam Muhammad Saroori, BJP on its own has got more than 11 thousand votes. Congress got more votes than BJP but these votes belonged to Congress party, National Conference and DDC member from Marwah Sheikh Zafarullah. We have got votes on our own,” the BJP leader added.
He hoped that in the upcoming Assembly elections, BJP may be able to win Inderwal alongside Kishtwar and Padder-Nagseni seats.
