SRINAGAR: The BJP apparently wants to play it safe in Jammu and Kashmir. Pursuing its 44+ mission to form a government of its own in the state, it has dropped its six sitting MLAs whose reputation suffered tremendous blow after they indulged in cross-voting in the 2011 election of MLCs.
The seventh sitting legislator who has also been shown the door is its state legislature party leader Ashok Khajuria. The first list of 45 candidates for the 5-phase J&K Assembly elections released by the party has only two of the sitting BJP MLAs on it.
They are Sham Choudhary and Sukhnandan Choudhary who would be seeking re-election from Suchetgarh and Marh in Jammu region, respectively.
The party has publicly pledged to get the state and its people rid of “dynastic politics”, a reference to the state’s power politics having been dominated by known political families like Abdullahs and Muftis over decades.
Hence, it has refused mandate to kin of any of the sitting legislators or senior party leaders in spite of weeks of lobbying by them, party sources said.
The BJP is also trying hard to consolidate the Kashmiri Pandit vote and that from other ethnic groups such as Gujjars and Paharis.
BJP leaders are in constant touch with various Kashmiri Pandit outfits both in Jammu and Delhi to ensure their maximum participation in the polling.
