Lotus set to bloom across J&K in next Assembly polls: BJP leader

Buoyed by the electoral success of the BJP in four states, Ravinder Raina, the president of the party's Jammu and Kashmir unit, on Saturday said the "lotus" will bloom across the Union Territory in the next Assembly polls.

Lotus is the poll symbol of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Raina said the party is confident of achieving its target of winning over 50 seats to form the next government in Jammu and Kashmir.

"The BJP government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached out to all sections of the society, irrespective of their religion and region. People love and support the BJP and we are confident that the lotus will bloom in both the regions (Kashmir and Jammu) in the next Assembly polls," he told reporters at the party office here.

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Several leaders, including Sanjeev Bali, the son of prominent National Conference (NC) leader and former minister Bodh Raj Bali, and Other Backward Class (OBC) leader Raju Ram, joined the saffron party in the presence of Raina on Saturday.

Bulldozing a resurgent rainbow coalition led by the Samajwadi Party (SP), the BJP stormed back to power in Uttar Pradesh and also retained Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa, while Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) scripted a stellar victory in Punjab, winning a three-fourths majority.

Welcoming the new entrants into the BJP-fold, Raina said, "People from all communities are joining the party every day, influenced by the welfare and development schemes of the government and the prime minister's slogan of sabka sath, sabka vikas aur sabka vishwas."

"The BJP is confident of achieving its target of winning over 50 seats to form the next government with its own chief minister for the first time in the history of Jammu and Kashmir," he added.

Raina said Jammu has been a stronghold of the BJP and he is confident that the "lotus" will bloom across the valley in the next Assembly polls.

"There is no one who can fight the BJP in Jammu and Kashmir. The Congress is finished across the country and you need a pair of binoculars to look for Congressmen.... People have witnessed the rule of the NC and the PDP and they are annoyed with these parties. Dogras, Kashmiris, Paharis, Bakerwals, Gujjars and everyone else is joining the BJP," he said, when asked what does he make of the challenge posed by the AAP.

Raina said the results in the just-concluded Assembly polls in five states show that people support the policies of the BJP.

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"If you look at Punjab, where the party contested the election on its own strength, its vote share has increased manifold," he added.

The BJP leader said the Muslims of Deoband in Uttar Pradesh, by voting for the BJP, have broken a myth as people know whom to vote for their welfare.

"Deoband is a religious and political centre and they voted for progress and development. Likewise, I am confident that the people of Jammu and Kashmir will vote for the bright future of their children in the next Assembly polls," he added.

Bali said he was inspired by the BJP's policies.

"It is the only party that is keeping its promises. As many as 12,000 daily wagers are being regularised after waiting for long and it was possible only because of the party," he said.

Ram, the president of the "Baazigar" sect, said he decided to join the BJP along with his supporters as it is the only party that is working for the welfare of the poor.

"We were always exploited and used as a vote bank by other parties. The BJP is doing a lot for us and we are sure that we will get reservation at par with our community members in the rest of the country under the leadership of Modi," he said.

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