The BJP has been in favour of giving statehood to Jammu and there are many takers of this move in the Jammu region.
Srinagar: The Jammu region is becoming the new political turf between the Bharatiya Janata Party and Opposition parties as there are many theories being put forward by analysts and media reports about this latest political development in the region.
The BJP has been in favour of giving statehood to Jammu and there are many takers of this move in the Jammu region, especially the displaced Kashmiri Pandits who want the new state of Jammu to have some portion of Anantnag district of South Kashmir not only for their rehabilitation, but also for the Amarnath cave in Pahalgam area.
“We want the discrimination to end and the people of Jammu must get their dignity and honour by separating us from Kashmir valley. The BJP should declare Jammu as a state and Kashmir valley should continue to be the Union territory without legislature for security reasons,” a BJP leader from Jammu told this newspaper. For this purpose, it seems that J&K BJP has done some homework also and they are trying to cobble up support from civil society and from other groups like Ek Jhut Jammu, so as to prevail upon the central leadership to get statehood for Jammu.
In this direction, recently J&K BJP could get the main face of National Conference from Jammu Devender Singh Rana into the fold and he also talked about the discrimination with Jammu by the successive Kashmiri governments.
Rana was very close to Omar Abdullah and was the main galvanizing force for the National Conference, especially in those areas where the BJP has a lot of influence.
As these reports are not being authenticated either by Bharatiya Janata Party or by the other political parties about the proposal to declare Jammu as a state, Congress leader and former chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has started his political rallies not only in Doda, Bhaderwah, Kishtwar, but also in Poonch and Rajouri, asking the Centre for the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir as promised in parliament.
There has been such talk in media circles in the past also when the BJP and displaced Kashmiri Pandits used to talk about carving out Amarnath route from Anantnag district, along with other areas in South Kashmir with Jammu, not only for the purpose of Amarnath yatra, but also for the rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits in Mattan area of South Kashmir so that they get their homeland back.
In such circumstances, even another former chief minister and National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah has also started public rallies in the Jammu region, including Chenab Valley and other areas, seeking restoration of Article 370 and complete restoration of J&K state as it existed before 5 August 2019.