Amid brewing resentment within BJP over seat allotment, Amit Shah to visit J&K on September 6

Srinagar: Amid brewing resentment within Jammu and Kashmir unit of the BJP over seat allotment, Union Home Minister Amit Shah is scheduled to visit the Union Territory (UT) from September 6.

During his visit, Shah will release the party's manifesto in a rally for the upcoming Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, BJP’s J&K general secretary Ashok Koul said.

The Home Minister will also address political rallies in Jammu during his two-day visit, while arrangements are being finalised for his visit.

A senior party leader said that Shah, the formidable architect of BJP's election strategy, will hold separate meetings with party leaders to know the reasons for discontent and ensure that the party fights the polls without any fissures.

The Home Minister’s visit to Jammu comes at a time when the BJP’s worries have multiplied in the UT ahead of the assembly polls as several leaders have left the saffron party after being denied ticket by the party high command in Delhi.

The BJP is facing resentment over its ticket distribution in the UT immediately after it started releasing the list of candidates for the Assembly elections on August 26, with party leaders and workers protesting in several districts of the Jammu region.

There is also discontent among BJP leadership in Kashmir particularly over the party’s decision not to contest as many as half the seats (eight of 16) in the Valley that are voting in the first phase on September 18. In the recent Lok Sabha elections, the BJP had not fielded candidates in any of the three seats in Kashmir.

A political analyst said the BJP knows that if it contests in Kashmir, “the election will become a referendum of sorts on Article 370, and it will land the party in an embarrassing position.”

The election to the 90-seat J&K Assembly will be held in three phases – on September 18, 25, and October 1.