Ram Madhav, an old familiar face of BJP in Jammu and Kashmir, on his appointment as election in-charge for the Assembly polls 2004 in the Union Territory , has hit the ground from the word go . This is what was expected of him when the BJP president J P Nadda nominated him and Union Minister G Kishan Reddy as election in charges . Since Reddy was already in charge of J&K polls , his nomination as in charge was no surprise , but Ram Madhav’s entry into J&K, nearly after five years, had a little bit of surprise for those who did not know the role that he had played during the 2014 Assembly polls in the then state of Jammu and Kashmir and propelling BJP to its power-sharing role in a coalition government with ideologically poles apart People’s Democratic Party in 2015.
He is a hard core RSS man , committed to its ideology 24×7 and a devoted political strategist. He knows the art of changing the games in the political landscapes of varying terrains and ideologies without compromising on his parent organization’s goals .
Three major factors weighed in favour of Ram Madhav when he was picked up for the role of election in-charge for one of the critical elections for the party has had ever faced in Jammu and Kashmir – it is the first election after the abrogation of Article 370 and 35 A ( August 5, 2019) which stripped the erstwhile state of its special status and exclusive privileges of its permanent residents , who now share their domicile certificate with non-residents , first after J&K was split into two union territories of Ladakh and J&K, and first in which the BJP has to validate whatever it did in August 2019 .
BJP’s stakes are highest in today’s electoral battle ground in J&K. It is seeking to reflect in the glory of social justice and better integration of J&K with the rest of the country after abrogation of Article 370 , but much has happened since which has not worked the way it wanted . One of the evidences is that the party did not contest the Lok Sabha elections in any of the three Kashmir Valley seats , and lost miserably in Ladakh , which had elected BJP to Lok Sabha since 2014. Ladakh was part of the erstwhile state of J&K .
The party was running through several dilemmas after the abrogation of Article 370 and could not anchor itself in the Valley, despite the fact the Modi government granted much-awaited Scheduled Tribe status to Pahari-speaking community , which has a substantial population in J&K . It could not convince the people in Valley that abrogation of Article 370 was a historic step for them which opened numerous opportunities to them . It banked upon the work of the security forces which engendered a new era of peace with millions of tourists filling tourist resorts , hotels and houseboats . Kashmir is overflowing with tourists . But still the party could not summon the courage to field candidates in Lok Sabha elections .
BJP wants to break that jinx with the help of Ram Madhav . First reason that made BJP to make him look after the party ahead of Assembly polls is to gain a foothold in the Valley, because winning few seats would establish BJP as one of the parties having its support base in the Valley . Since Ram Madhav knows the ground, much better than the local leadership , he has been sent to J&K. Living up to his reputation of working from the word go, he visited Srinagar in less than 24 hours after his appointment on Wednesday , interacted with his sources, got the feedback. It is his report that will determine how many candidates the party will field in Kashmir , and to whom all it will extend the support .
Second, is that the party wants to keep RSS in good humour. Ram Madhav is the man who can change the things for BJP in Jammu and Kashmir. RSS and BJP both want the Indian nationalism to gain ground and grow in the union territory . He is a common thread between RSS and BJP.
Third, it tells that how weak the political leadership of the J&K unit of BJP is. The local unit is not working even as a mouthpiece of the achievements of the Modi government vis-à-vis Jammu and Kashmir, which has seen many changes for positives since the abrogation of Article 370 , because they lacked the art of communication and the functionaries were busy in marginalizing those who came with political capabilities and credibility to the party from other parties. The top leaders also ignored the partymen who had been tirelessly and selflessly working for the party .. Ram Madhav’s reentry is expected to change all this.
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