Early Times Report
JAMMU, Feb 1: The BJP, which only 13 months ago, got a massive mandate in the Assembly elections and won 25 of the 37 seats from the Jammu province, has become thoroughly unpopular in its own core constituency.
The level of unpopularity can be measured from the poor attendance of people in the so-called 'Vikas Sushashan Sankalap' rally, which was organized in the heart of Jammu city on Sunday with much fanfare. It was organized at Geeta Bhawan, which is located in the Jammu East Assembly constituency, once considered a stronghold of the BJP.
The choice of Geeta Bhavan as the venue of the rally was well-considered. The organizers knew that the BJP had lost its popularity and that if it would organize this rally on a bigger ground, the poor attendance in it would be noticed by one and all and they would become a laughing stock. Hence, they selected Geeta Bhawan compound as the venue, which cannot accommodate more than 500 people. However, the organizers of the rally had never imagined that they would fail to motivate even 500 persons to attend the rally, but much to their shock it happened. Most of the chairs at the Geeta Bhawan were empty as there were no BJP supporters to occupy them. The empty chairs were nothing but an indication of the place the BJP stands today in Jammu, the area of its influence and activities.
That the BJP leadership failed to attract even 500 people and that too in Jammu city itself and also on Sunday speaks for itself and clearly suggests that the people of Jammu have abandoned the BJP. The reasons for the fast-dwindling popularity of the BJP are not far to seek. The most important reason was the manner in which it subverted the Jammu mandate for joining government in Jammu and Kashmir and its alliance with a party that was, and is, fundamentally Valley-centric. There are reasons to believe that the BJP will not deviate from the path it started treading after February 2014. The belief stems from the Sunday statement of the party spokesperson that, inter-alia, read: "The Agenda of Alliance, as such, is not negotiable for government dispensation of the alliance partners…The provocative and misleading statements are being made by opposition parties for pity political gains but both alliance partners are experienced to see through their designs. The vision of Late Mufti Sahib can be carried forward by working on Agenda of Alliance…" |
