Vote nahi milne, Kuch bhi kar loo! Inadequate gathering during the BJP minister rally shows people are not ready to recognize development, BJP leaders fall short to highlight development

Vote nahi milne, Kuch bhi kar loo! Inadequate gathering during the BJP minister rally shows people are not ready to recognize development, BJP leaders fall short to highlight development

SALIL RAINA

(POONCH TODAY NEWS)

POONCH/RAJOURI: Although the BJP has remained vocal with its famous slogans of “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas,” the just concluded visit of the Union Minister in Poonch district has shown that maximum people are not ready to recognise development in the region. Moreover, the majority of BJP leaders have failed to highlight the big developmental initiatives taken by the Union government in the Poonch-Rajouri region.

The union Minister of Law and Justice, Arjun Ram Meghwal, who was at Poonch to highlight the union government’s achievements for the last nine years, tried his best to convey the message of the government amid inadequate gatherings at the venue. It is important to mention here that politics in the Poonch-Rajouri belt remained dependent on mostly the Gujjar-Pahari issue and to cover this area, the BJP government has taken many decisions in favour of the Gujjar community. After its attempts to please the Gujjar community, the BJP think tank tried to appease the Pahari people with the promise of giving ST status to the Pahari-speaking people, but the top brass of the BJP totally forgot the result of the 2014 and 2019 parliamentary elections, in which a large percentage of voters from both the Gujjar and Pahari communities in the Poonch-Rajouri belt went against the BJP. Despite having clear records of the election available, the BJP leadership again tried their best to please Gujjars and Paharis in the border region of the Poonch-Rajouri district, but the latest union minister visit clearly indicated that a large number of people from Pahari and Gujjar communities are not with the BJP, despite the fact that the BJP has done a lot for the Poonch-Rajouri region. The under-construction Jammu-Poonch national highway is the biggest gift to the people of Poonch and Rajouri. Moreover, the work on the DPR of the Mughal road tunnel is going on. Many more decisions were taken by the government that had an impact on the common man, but the maximum people of the region did not recognise this and decided to stay away from the minister’s visit. Not giving ST status to Paharis is also seen as a reason for this inadequate gathering. During the rally, BJP leaders were seen fighting for seats in the presence of the Union Minister, and this clearly showed that turncoat party leaders lack discipline and that the majority of them have joined the BJP to fulfill their personal and business interests. The Poonch unit of BJP seems to have become a private construction company as those, who laid a solid foundation for the party were sidelined and outsiders with no political background have been given important responsibilities.  At the national level, the BJP government has taken many bold decisions from the national security point of view and also for the common man, like golden card insurance and many others, but the local BJP leadership failed to highlight these issues properly among the masses. In J&K, poor performance in the employment generation sector has decreased the confidence of the people in the BJP. The imposition of various taxes added fuel to the already-burning fire. Anti-encroachment drives to vacate state land were a good decision, but that decision was stopped midway, and this showed that no clear-cut policies were implemented on the ground. It’s a hard-core fact that the majority of people from the twin border districts of Poonch and Rajouri, despite witnessing some major developmental works in the region, never voted for the BJP in the parliamentary elections, and still, if BJP leaders think that they will get the majority of votes from all the sections of society in the Poonch-Rajouri region on the issue of development, then they are fooling themselves, say prominent citizens of society. A senior citizen, pleading anonymity, while talking to “POONCH TODAY”, said, “Vote nahi milne, Kuch bhi kar loo. Government ne bahut ache kaam kiye hain, lekin Poonch-Rajouri ke log kaam nahi dekhte, kuch aur  dekhte hain.” The lack of visionary leaders in the BJP in the twin border districts of Poonch and Rajouri is another reason that party leaders have failed to form a proper policy to win people at the grassroots level. Only Pardeep Sharma and Vibodh Gupta are grassroots’ leaders in the region, and others have only a social media presence and have failed to do something big for the party. Reports also say that some opposition parties have installed their leaders silently in the BJP to get every piece of information about its policies.  The majority of BJP leaders are seen only hoodwinking the people on social media by projecting themselves as mass leaders. The majority of them have joined the BJP to protect their illegal business interests. The just-concluded visit of the union minister has forced the BJP to start thinking about the reasons for the inadequate gatherings. It would be a very tough task for the BJP to please both the Gujjar and Pahari communities and if BJP gets successful in that, then the party would be able to create history in the district, else, it would be better if the BJP leaders started focusing on their traditional voters rather than wasting their time trying to please everyone. If the BJP leaders fail to learn lessons from the output of the 2014 and 2019 parliamentary elections in the Poonch-Rajouri belt, then the party leaders are again wasting their time in the region, expecting an unimaginable miracle through votes. The party should stop thinking that it will get good votes from the Poonch-Rajouri region. Only voters with a nationalist mindset will stand with the party, not everyone, says people with an eye on political developments.