'Next Jammu and Kashmir CM will be from BJP,' says Ravinder Raina

Even as there is no sign of holding the much-awaited Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir, Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) J&K President Ravinder Raina asserted that the next chief minister will be from his party.

“We are fully prepared for elections in Jammu and Kashmir and want the Election Commission to announce the polls," he told reporters in south Kashmir’s Anantnag.

“We are hopeful that people of J&K will wholeheartedly support BJP in the Assembly elections,” he said and added that people of the union territory were close to BJP due to "sincere and pro-people" politics by Prime Minister Narendra Modi who ensured development in every village of J&K.

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“Based on this we have full confidence that the next chief minister in J&K will be from the BJP," the Raina asserted.

Raina’s assertions came a day after National Conference (NC) Vice President and former chief minister Omar Abdullah said that fearing defeat, the BJP does not want Assembly elections to take place in Jammu and Kashmir.

The NC leader further stated that he does not see Assembly polls being held in the Union Territory soon. Omar also alleged that the Election Commission in recent years has not taken any decision without consulting the Central government.

The elections in J&K have been due since the PDP-BJP alliance fell apart in June 2018, after which the erstwhile state was brought under central rule.

More than a year later after the abrogation of the erstwhile state’s special status on August 5, 2019, J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019 was brought in, mandating delimitation in the newly carved out UT before polls could be conducted.

After much delay, formalities like delimitation of constituencies and special summary revision of electoral rolls which were necessary after the Reorganisation Act to hold Assembly polls were completed last year.