No seats in kitty,BSP readies for high-voltage J-K campaign

After it drew a blank in the last Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir,the Bahajuan Samaj Party is getting ready to launch a high-voltage campaign in the state once again.

After it drew a blank in the last Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir,the Bahajuan Samaj Party (BSP) is getting ready to launch a high-voltage campaign in the state once again. The party,which is contesting all six Lok Sabha seats in the state,is planning a mega rally at Jammu on March 30 which will be addressed by UP CM and party Supremo Mayawati.

The party,which has proposed the name of Mayawati as its Prime Ministerial candidate,is trying to break new ground in the state by co-opting people from both the lower and upper castes in the upcoming parliamentary elections.

Addressing a press conference,BSP national general secretary Narendra Kashyap on Wednesday said that apart from the issues like unemployment and escalation in the prices of essential commodities,the party would make fighting militancy its central poll plank. “We lost all the Assembly seats as the agitation over transfer of land to Shri Amaranth Shrine Board (SASB) had influenced the choice of voters a great deal in the state. It was a vote which was given on (the basis of) caste and religion and there was nothing missing in our efforts. However,the issues in the Lok Sabha elections will be different and our party has become stronger after nearly a dozen regional and national parties supported party president,Mayawtiji,as the Prime Ministerial candidate,” he said.

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Kashyap also signalled the BSP’s willingness to take up local issues. “We fully support the demand of the people of Ladakh for UT status. It is a genuine demand and if we get a seat from Ladakh we will get the UT status for it,” added Kashyap.

The party has decided to field Choudhary Hussain Ali Wafa from Jammu,Rakesh Wazir from Udhampur,Ghulam Mustafa Kasana from Baramulla,Mohammad Yousuf Beigh from Srinagar and Nisar Ahmed Khan from Anantang. It is yet to finalise its candidate from Ladakh.

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