In booster for BJP ahead of J&K polls, key Gujjar face quits Apni Party to join its fold

Ali, who is an influential Gujjar leader and hails from Rajouri district in the Pir Panjal region, has been a two-time MLA from the Darhal seat, which he first won in 2008 and retained in 2014. He has also served as a Cabinet minister in the PDP-BJP government led by Mehbooba Mufti and held key portfolios like food, civil supplies, consumer affairs and tribal affairs.

Ali’s induction is also likely to rally the Gujjars too in support of the BJP. The party, which had secured a lead in 29 of the 43 Assembly segments in the Jammu region in the recent Lok Sabha polls, is now looking to improve its tally in the Pir Panjal belt, where it won two seats – Nowshera and Kalakote – in the 2014 Assembly polls.

The former minister’s joining the BJP is likely to check the damage that it had suffered in the border districts of Rajouri and Poonch after the Centre earlier this year accepted the long-standing demand of the Pahari ethnic group and granted them Scheduled Tribe (ST) status, bringing them in conflict with the Gujjars.

Despite the BJP’s decision to reserve nine seats in the Assembly for STs and enacting the Forest Rights Act, the Gujjars had stayed away from the recent Lok Sabha polls in Anantnag over the grant of ST status to the Paharis. Despite its leaders “silently campaigning” for “like-minded parties” while urging people to vote for “bat-ball” – the Apni Party symbol – it faced defeat at the hands of senior NC leader and prominent Gujjar face Mian Altaf.

Observers claim that BJP will have an edge with Ali joining the party as it comes in the backdrop of a changed political scenario with the Centre granting the ST status to both Gujjars and Paharis with a provision of separate reservation for both groups. The move has attracted several Pahari leaders like former NC MLA Shahnaz Ganai, and Rajouri District Development Board (DDB) members Abdul Qayoom Mir and Iqbal Malik to the BJP.

According to the 2011 Census, Gujjars and Bakerwals – who are predominantly Muslims – make up 43% and 41% of the population in Poonch and Rajouri respectively. The remaining population, comprising Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs, refer to themselves as Paharis. Gujjars and Bakerwals, along with Shinas (Shin and Dard), Gaddis and Sippis, who were granted ST status in 1991.

Ali began his career as a student leader and has served as the National Conference (NC)’s student union in Jammu University. He later formally joined the NC and rose up the ranks to become the zonal president of the party’s youth wing in 2002. However, he snapped ties with the party after being denied a ticket from the Darhal seat and contested the seat as a rebel, narrowly losing to Independent candidate Thakur Puran Singh by a margin of 3,962 votes.

In 2020, Ali quit the PDP along with Altaf Bukhari and formed the Apni Party. The 54-year-old is an advocate by profession and comes from a political family. Hailing from a “zaildar (land-owning)” family, Ali’s father Chowdhary Mohammad Hussain was a bureaucrat-turned-politician and a five-term MLA. His father-in-law Haji Buland Khan, who was also seen as a Gujjar leader, was a three-time MLA from the Gulabgarh Assembly seat in Reasi district. His brothers-in-law – Ajaz and Mumtaz Khan – who are also founder members of the Apni Party and are currently its vice-presidents, have represented Gool-Arnas and Gulabgarh Assembly seats respectively.

In January 2003, he joined the PDP and was appointed its Rajouri district president and went on to win the Darhal seat in 2008 and 2014 as a PDP candidate.

Of the eight Assembly seats in Rajouri and Poonch districts, six have been reserved for STs following delimitation in 2022. They include Gujjars, Paharis and Bakerwals, who comprise more than half of the almost 7.35 lakh electorate of the region.