Prominent Dogra leaders from Jammu join BJP after quitting NC

Prominent Dogra leaders from Jammu Devender Rana and Surjit Singh Slathia on Monday joined the BJP, a day after quitting the National Conference.

Rana and Slathia, who were welcomed into BJP by Union Ministers Hardeep Singh Puri, Dharmendra Pradhan and Jitendra Singh, are votaries of the Jammu Declaration that seeks to give Jammu Division primacy in the affairs of the Union Territory of J&K.

The two leaders also met Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP President J P Nadda before formally joining the party.

“Jammu needs to be made the voice of Jammu and Kashmir,” Rana told reporters after joining the BJP.

Rana, who is a former MLA and the younger brother of Union minister Jitendra Singh, has also served as a political advisor to former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and National Conference (NC) leader Omar Abdullah.

The Jammu Declaration, seen as a counter to the Gupkar Declaration, seeks restoration of statehood to the Jammu region and opposes the “demotion” of the state of J&K to a Union Territory. The Gupkar Alliance, formed by political outfits in the Kashmir valley, sought restoration of the special status and statehood to J&K.

The National Conference was critical about the Jammu Declaration which prompted the two leaders to move to the BJP, which was receptive to the idea.

“Jammu Declaration was about the generation of a secular and inclusive political narrative for the entire J&K. This should be the natural follow up of the 'Ek Pradhan, Ek Nishan, Ek Samvidhan' that has already taken place,” Rana said.

He argued that a Jammu-centric narrative was vital for preserving the secular ethos of J&K and rejected the support to the Dixon Plan that envisaged the division of J&K.

Rana had won the Nagrota assembly seat thrice and is considered to enjoy the support of Gujjar Muslim communities in the region.

Check out the latest DH videos: