After the Lok Sabha elections, all eyes are now on the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly polls, the dates of which will be announced soon after the Amarnath Yatra ends on August 19.
As the hilly state gears up for assembly elections, the first after the abrogation of Article 370, the BJP held a crucial meeting under Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s chairmanship on July 4. The meeting was attended by BJP President JP Nadda and other party cadres from J&K, where they were instructed to “be ready.”
The Supreme Court in a 2023 verdict directed the EC to hold assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir by September 2024.
In an interview with PTI in May, Shah said that the J&K polls will be held before the Supreme Court’s deadline of September 30 following which statehood will be restored in Jammu and Kashmir.
Last month, the Election Commission called for applications seeking allotment of ‘common symbol’ from registered unrecognised political parties in Jammu and Kashmir.
On Friday, Union Minister G Kishan Reddy, who will oversee the elections in J&K, chaired the first executive meeting to review the poll preparedness in the region.
BJP to contest solo?
While the saffron party has already started brainstorming its manifesto ahead of the assembly elections, sources say that the Bharatiya Janata Party will not forge an alliance with anyone and that it will contest from all 90 assembly seats.
Sources have told News18 that the party will contest the elections in the absence of a chief ministerial face while Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be the star campaigner for J&K polls.
National Conference pulls up socks
Not just the BJP, but local parties including Farooq Abdullah’s National Conference, which performed a poor show in the Lok Sabha elections, is gearing up for assembly polls.
Last week, the party held two marathon meetings to discuss the manifesto and deliberate on structural changes within the party.
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J&K Assembly poll dates to be announced post August 19; BJP to contest all 90 seats alone
