Highest vote share approval of Article 370 abrogation, says JK BJP core group

Jammu, Oct 18: The Jammu and Kashmir BJP on Friday said the party's number one position in terms of vote percentage is a clear endorsement by the public of the central government's decision to abrogate Article 370.

A special core group meeting of the BJP leadership held here urged all party MLAs to remain committed to the party's goals and play an active role as a vigilant opposition in the Assembly. It asked the party MLAs to ensure that no "injustice" is done to the Jammu region by the National Conference(NC)-led government which, they alleged, is primarily focused on Kashmir.

The special core group meeting, presided over by BJP JK president Ravinder Raina, took place at the party headquarters, according to a BJP statement.

During the meeting, the core group held an in-depth discussion on the recently held elections for the UT of JK Assembly.

They extended their gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his "visionary leadership" which, they claimed, led the party to an "unprecedented" victory.

The BJP not only made history by securing 29 seats but also garnered the highest vote percentage, approximately 26 percentage, in the assembly elections, achieving the number one position in terms of vote share, the statement said.

"The victory of the BJP and party standing at number one position in percentage of votes is a stamp of approval by the majority of voters of the decision taken by the central government to abrogate Article 370 and a number of such other decisions which have instilled confidence of the masses in the system and have largely helped contain and eliminate the terror network from JK," the statement said.

In the recently held JK assembly polls, results of which were declared on October 8, the BJP won 29 of the 90 seats on which elections were held and garnered 25.64 per cent vote share. The NC won 42 seats and bagged 23.43 per cents votes.

The BJP said the majority of the population in JK also expressed approval for the development and progress driven by the central government and the LG administration. This was reflected in the significant increase in the BJP's vote share in the Kashmir region, it added.

The core group expressed its gratitude to the people of JK, especially in the Jammu region, for their overwhelming support of the BJP's policies. They also thanked the BJP workers for their unwavering dedication, which convinced the public to stand by the party's 'Nation First' principles, according to the statement.

"Despite various factors and the misleading campaign by the National Conference, which resulted in a one-sided election in the Kashmir region, allowing the National Conference to form the government, the real victory lies with the BJP. The party has created electoral history in J&K," the BJP statement said.

The core group resolved that all BJP members of the Legislative Assembly remain committed to working for the people of JK, particularly in the Jammu region. They pledged to leave no stone unturned in ensuring that justice is done to the people of Jammu, it said.

"All BJP members of the J&K Legislative Assembly have been instructed by the party to remain committed and to play the role of a vigilant and effective opposition, ensuring that no injustice is done to the Jammu region by the National Conference government, which is primarily Kashmir-centric," the statement added.

The core group also resolved to strengthen democracy and democratic institutions in JK and alleviate the suffering of the masses through hard work, honesty and dedication, it said.

Those who attended the core group meeting included MP Jugal Kishore, working president Sat Sharma, national secretary and MLA Narinder Singh, general secretary (organisation) Ashok Koul, general secretary Vibodh Gupta, general secretary and MLA D K Manyal, and MLAs Devender Singh Rana, Surjit Singh Salathia, Shyam Lal Sharma, Shakti Raj Parihar, Sunil Sethi, Balwant Mankotia and chief spokesperson Ajay Bharti, the statement said.