Jammu, Feb 15: In a significant development ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha Polls, former Jammu & Kashmir minister and prominent Pahari leader, Mushtaq Ahmad Shah Bukhari, along with hundreds of supporters, joined the BJP on Thursday in Jammu.
Bukhari, a two-time former MLA from Surankote in Poonch district, resigned from the National Conference in February 2022.
J&K BJP president Ravinder Raina welcomed Bukhari and his supporters, including former bureaucrat G M Khuwaja and retired Senior Superintendent of Police, Shabir Geelani, into the party fold here.
After joining the BJP, Bukhari told reporters, “I have kept my promise of joining a party which fulfills our long-pending demand of ST status and thankful to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and Ravinder Raina for doing justice with Paharis who have struggled for 40 long years for the ST status.”
The BJP-led central government recently added four communities — Gadda Brahmin, Koli, Paddari Tribe, and Pahari Ethnic group — to the list of Scheduled Tribes in Jammu and Kashmir.
“We will not hesitate in supporting any party which will help the community in achieving its demand of ST status did not go down well with the NC leadership and I was asked for an explanation,” he said.
Raina described Bukhari as not only a political stalwart but also a spiritual personality with significant influence over people in both Jammu & Kashmir. He expressed confidence that Bukhari’s joining would further strengthen the BJP at the grassroots level.
“In the coming days, you will see more political stalwarts joining BJP and there will be only one party left in Jammu and Kashmir,” the J&K BJP Chief said, adding that the lotus — the BJP’s poll symbol — will bloom not only in Dal Lake but in the entire landscape in Kashmir.
