SRINAGAR: As the talks on seat sharing between the National Conference and Congress are gaining currency, the BJP has deputed its Kashmir hand, Ram Madhav, on “Mission Kashmir” by appointing him as co-poll in charge of J&K. The saffron party is hopeful that through him, it will be able to cobble an arrangement to secure enough seats in the polls for the 90-member Assembly to form the first-ever government in the Union Territory.
The BJP, on Tuesday, appointed its former national general secretary and Kashmir hand Ram Madhav and Union minister G Kishan Reddy as in charge for the upcoming assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir. A J&K BJP leader said Ram Madhav’s appointment as co-poll in charge of J&K would benefit the party. “He has experience and expertise working in J&K, and the party has sent him back to the UT at a very crucial time. His insight and political understanding will help the party better strategies for the Assembly polls, which are very significant for BJP,” he said.
Ram Madhav played a key role in forming the PDP-BJP coalition government in 2015 after the hung Assembly in the 2014 polls. He was the architect of the alliance between the north and south pole. The PDP-BJP alliance worked for over three years and collapsed after the BJP withdrew support to the Mehbooba Mufti-led government in June 2018.
Ram Madhav made support withdrawal announcement. A political analyst said as the BJP is walking a tightrope, the party would expect Ram Madhav to use his contacts and strategy to woo some Valley-based parties and independent candidates and repeat what he did after 2014 Assembly polls.
“Ram Madhav, we know, has got contacts in every political party in J&K. He has got good rapport with Sajjad Lone of Peoples Conference, former PDP patron Muzaffar Baig, former PDP leader and Apni Party chief Altaf Bukhari and many other leaders and BJP would hope that through his contacts and strategy, he would open space for the party in the Valley,” he said.