How BJP plans to make the most of the scrapping of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday announced a mass contact programme on its decision to strip Jammu and Kashmir of its special status, scheduling rallies in 35 big towns and 370 tier 1 and 2 cities.

The government on August 5 announced in the Lok Sabha its move to scrap Article 370, that granted special status to Jammu & Kashmir, and paved way for the bifurcation of the state into two Union Territories – J&K (with legislature) and Ladakh (without legislature).

The party feels that Kashmir is one such issue when the entire country needs to speak in one voice and the decision to strip the state of its special status received support from across political and ideological divide. This is the second such outreach by the BJP on Kashmir issue. Here are five things that the ruling party aims to achieve with this organisational exercise.

1. The party feels it needs to explain to people the reasons behind its decision to turn article 370 ineffective and divide the state into two union territories. It wants to hammer again at the points that the BJP leadership made in Parliament during the debate on the Kashmir bill. The longer it remains alive in people’s memory, better it is for the party.

 Also watch: HT Worldview | Decoding global reaction to Modi govt’s Article 370 move

2. The party is also trying to counter an alternate narrative from its rivals about the situation in Kashmir, which has been under security lockdown after the bill was passed in Parliament. The prevailing situation had drawn negative coverage in a section of the international press and opposition is attempting to use them to question the government’s move.

3. It strengthens party’s ‘nation-first’ discourse. This discourse was also instrumental in BJP’s return to power at the centre with a greater majority and the party doesn’t want to lose momentum on this count.

4. This is yet another mass contact programme from the BJP to activate its workers. The party has taken to this route to keep the workers engaged in non-election season. The party’s membership drive has ended and the party needed to engage its workers in some other job.

5. Three key states will go to poll between October and December. This is for the first time that the BJP is running a majority government in Maharashtra, Haryana and Jharkhand. The party hopes that its mass contact programme will also improve party’s winning chances and increase its victory margin in these three states.