BJP calls state unit core group to Delhi for meeting

Just two days after Centre ordered deployment of additional forces personnel in the valley, triggering speculations, the BJP has called a meeting of its Jammu and Kashmir unit’s core group on Tuesday to discuss the party's preparedness for assembly elections.
 
Sources said Union minister Jitendra Singh, BJP general secretary Ram Madhav, state unit president Ravinder Raina and other senior leaders from J&K are scheduled to attend the meeting, to be chaired by its national working president JP Nadda in New Delhi.
 
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah are also expected to attend the meeting which is significant and hints at the party gearing up for the state assembly elections,” they said.
 
On Saturday Raina said the Election Commission (EC) will take a call on holding Assembly elections in the State soon after August 15 and it was expected that the Commission will announce polls in November-December.
 
“Soon after the Independence-day, the EC will take a call and announce the dates (for Assembly polls). I am sure that elections will be held in the state in November-December,” he said. 
 
In a sudden move, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) late on Friday ordered the deployment of 10,000 additional paramilitary personnel in J&K, leaving the valley guessing and on edge. The development follows National Security Advisor Ajit Doval's visit to the valley to take stock of security and infrastructure development in the state.
 
The sudden deployment of additional forces sparked panic in the valley, with speculation rife about the abrogation of Article 35A.
 
Earlier, in June, the EC had said it may hold Assembly elections in the restive Himalayan state later this year. The election body had said that it will announce the date for the J&K polls after the conclusion of Amarnath Yatra, which is scheduled to end on August 15.
 
Jammu and Kashmir has been under the Governor's rule since June last year after the BJP pulled out of coalition government with Mehbooba Mufti-led People's Democratic Party. As mandated by the Constitution, the state was brought under President's Rule on December 19, 2018. The six-month term of the central rule was extended for further six months on June 19.
 
When the dates for the Lok Sabha polls were announced on March 10, the EC had decided against holding parliamentary and assembly polls simultaneously in the state.
 
It had said that the situation in J&K was not conducive for holding assembly polls. The Lok Sabha polls were held by and large peacefully in the state though the turnout of voters was low.