Jammu. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Jammu and Kashmir unit chief Ravindra Raina said on Wednesday that his party will fulfill its responsibility as the main opposition in Jammu and Kashmir. Raina also expressed hope that the National Conference led government will take strict action against terrorism and separatism and there will be peace and brotherhood. He also said that the poor performance of BJP-backed independent candidates and some like-minded parties in Kashmir was the reason for the National Conference-Congress alliance touching the majority mark.
Raina said, “BJP performed its best by winning 29 assembly seats and getting the highest vote percentage. We are grateful to the people and also acknowledge the role of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and party president JP Nadda in this brilliant performance.” Jammu and Kashmir BJP chief was talking to journalists at the party headquarters here. Raina, who lost the assembly elections from his home constituency Nowshera in Rajouri district to National Conference’s Surinder Choudhary, said the BJP was eyeing 35 seats and had planned to form the government with party-supported independents and like-minded groups from Kashmir. .
BJP leader Raina said, “The performance of those independents and parties was not as expected and they all lost to the alliance candidates. My best wishes to all the winning candidates. We hope that the government that is going to be formed will work for the public interest and there will be peace, prosperity and brotherhood.” He also expressed hope that the government will crack down on separatism and terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir. Raina said that the Modi-led government has transformed Jammu and Kashmir, which has led to overall improvement in the security situation and development.
He said, “The new government will have to pay special attention and ensure that there is no harm to the hard-earned peace in Jammu and Kashmir, which has been possible due to the efforts of Modi and the Union Home Minister in the last 10 years.” The BJP leader said that the coalition government is expected to do justice to the people and regularize the daily wage laborers as per its manifesto.
Raina said, “The winners of BJP will fulfill their responsibilities in the new assembly. He will raise public issues with full force and ensure that people’s grievances are resolved. “BJP is bound by the promise of peace, prosperity and nationalism.” He said that the newly elected MLAs of the party will soon meet to prepare a future action plan.
He said that the Union Home Minister and Nadda called him to congratulate him on the BJP’s performance. Raina said, “Congress and National Conference have been almost wiped out from Jammu region. BJP’s performance in Kashmir is also worth noting. The party got more than two lakh votes in Rajouri and Poonch, where earlier it could not even get candidates to contest the elections. People supported the party and we are grateful to them.” On his defeat from Nowshera constituency, Raina said that he was hopeful of victory and “we will sit and think about the reasons for our defeat.” He said, “The people of Nowshera gave more than 27,000 votes to the BJP, which is much more than in the 2014 assembly elections. “After delimitation in 2022, a large part of the constituency shifted to Sunderbani-Kalakot constituency, which the party won by a huge margin of over 20,000 votes.”