What brought down BJP in Pir Panjal | India News – Times of India

JAMMU: BJP’s underperformance in Pir Panjal Rajouri and Poonch region has come under scrutiny after the party managed only one win out of eight. assembly constituencies in these two border districts of Jammu zone. BJP won 29 seats, all in the Jammu region, in the just-concluded J&K elections but faced defeat in Pir Panjal.
Political observers attributed the BJP’s failure in the mountain region to the political dynamics following the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019, the effects of polarization over the Pahari quota row, and the increase in terrorist activities despite the party’s claims to normalize the situation in the two districts that share a border with Pakistan.
While BJP secured Kalakote-Sunderbani, National Conference (NC) and Congress captured the remaining seven constituencies: Nowshera, Rajouri (ST), Budhal (ST), Thannamandi (ST), Surankote (ST), Poonch Haveli and Mendhar (ST).
BJP’s defeat is particularly striking as several top officials lost. The biggest upset came in Nowshera, where the party’s state president Ravinder Raina lost to NC’s Surinder Chowdhary, while general secretary Vibodh Gupta was defeated in Rajouri by Congress candidate Iftikhar Ahmed.
In Budhal, BJP’s former minister Chowdhary Zulfkar Ali lost to his cousin and NC candidate Javed Iqbal Choudhary. The party’s fortunes were no better in Poonch district where the party lost all three seats.
Doda-based political analyst Tariq Mehmood said the BJP had high expectations from the Pir Panjal region, believing that the decision to grant ST status to the Pahari community would secure their votes. “BJP expected a clean sweep, but things went wrong. Though the BJP claimed to champion the cause of tribal communities in Poonch and Rajouri, they could not win the confidence of voters.”
Mehmood said the BJP also struggled to make inroads in the Chenab Valley, where it lost in Ramban and Doda. “AAP’s first victory in Doda poses a new challenge for both Congress and BJP,” he said.
According to university student Vishal Singh from Rajouri, BJP claimed that the quota of any group would not be scrapped, but “NC managed to create fear among Gujjars and Bakerwals that if the BJP won, they would lose”.
He said political signals in Pir Panjal region are influenced by the ethnic division. “In Rajouri, four constituencies that are now part of Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha seat are aligned with Kashmir. Sunderbani-Kalakote, part of the Jammu parliamentary seat, leans towards Jammu politics. The BJP has failed to exploit these divisions.”