Srinagar: BJP General Secretary Ram Madhav Thursday visited Kashmir along with other party leaders and met senior leaders of the newly formed Apni Party as well as a top leader of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
The meetings assume significance given that four main regional parties of J&K and two national parties had last week issued a joint statement, reiterating their commitment to the August 2019 Gupkar Declaration, which binds its signatories to put up a joint fight to restore Article 370 in the erstwhile state.
Madhav also presided over a meeting with local BJP leaders at Circuit House in Srinagar where he discussed a range of issues, including security of the party’s Kashmir cadres, recent spate of resignations by BJP workers, upcoming elections in the Union Territory and the Gupkar Declaration.
Sources in the National Conference (NC) and PDP said they viewed the BJP leader’s visit as a response to the Gupkar Declaration move, but BJP’s J&K General Secretary Ashok Kaul denied it.
When ThePrint reached Madhav’s office, officials there refused to comment about his meetings with the local politicians. J&K BJP leaders also denied that Madhav met the local politicians.
However, Apni Party leader Usman Majeed, who was formerly with the Congress and has also served as an MLA, confirmed meeting with Madhav.
Majeed, however, maintained that the meeting was not political and said that Madhav is his old friend.
“Mr Madhav is a very old friend and I met him in the same capacity. There is nothing political about the meeting. He called me and said he was in town, so I went to meet him. We discussed Covid-19 situation and weather, that’s all,” said Majeed.
Also read: Not given up Article 370 fight but illogical to ask Modi govt to restore it — Omar Abdullah
Madhav met Shah Faesal too
Apni Party founder Ghulam Hassan Mir did not deny meeting Madhav, but refused to share details of his meeting.
“Why will I tell you about it? If I have to say something, I will do that, why should I tell you what the matter was about,” said Mir.
Madhav, according to J&K administration sources, also met IAS officer-turned politician Shah Faesal, who recently quit politics after remaining under detention for almost a year.
ThePrint reached Faesal through phone calls and messages, but there was no response until the time of publishing this report.
J&K administration sources also confirmed that Madhav met PDP leader Muzaffar Baig at his residence in Srinagar.
When ThePrint reached Baig via phone calls, sources close to him said they will not talk about the matter.
Administration sources said that Madhav visited Baig and Mir at their Srinagar residences, while Majeed dropped in at the Circuit House to meet the BJP leader.
‘Main purpose of visit was to discuss security scenario’
Manzoor Bhat, in-charge of BJP’s media and IT department, denied that Madhav met any local politicians.
Instead, Bhat said, “The main purpose of the visit by Mr Madhav along with other party leaders, including Mr Sunil Sharma, Mr Ashok Kaul and Mr Vibhod Gupta, was to discuss the security scenario of party workers and cadres.”
“After the killing of BJP leader Wasim Bari (last month) and his family members, the senior leadership wanted to take stock of the security of party workers here. We presented a memorandum where we asked security for at least 300-400 BJP leaders and workers who have threats from militant groups,” he said.
Bhat also said senior BJP leaders discussed the spate of resignations by party leaders after Bari’s killing on 8 July.
At least 13 BJP workers have resigned from the party, including those who even announced their dissociation from the party in newspaper advertisements followed by a public apology.
Bhat described those resigning from the party as “rogue activists”.
He also said that the local leadership discussed the recent joint statement by the six political parties.
“We are informed that the joint statement and the Gupkar Declaration is nothing but another lie being told to the people of Kashmir. First these parties sold the idea of autonomy and now they are selling Article 370.”
“We also discussed the 15 August speech by Prime Minister Narendra Modi where he said elections will be held in J&K. The party leaders took stock of the pre-election situation too,” Bhat added.
He further said that the J&K unit of the party demanded return of the statehood and Madhav assured that steps are being taken in that regard.
Also read: Why Abdullahs, Mehbooba are silent on Article 370 and what it means for Kashmir politics
BJP person is very ugly.