Congress leader, retired SSP among several others join BJP in Jammu

BJP said that the continuous joining of prominent personalities like former minister Choudhary Zulfikar Ali and former MLC Murtaza Khan in the BJP has unnerved the Congress and the NC.

Jammu: A Congress leader and a former police officer on Saturday joined the BJP along with dozens of their supporters here, vowing to work for the party's success in the Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir.

J&K BJP president Ravinder Raina welcomed the new entrants at two separate functions in the party headquarters. He described the pre-poll alliance of the Congress and National Conference (NC) as an outcome of the "growing popularity" of the BJP.

At the first function, former SSP Mohan Lal joined the BJP, a day after his application for voluntary retirement from service was accepted.

“Today, I am joining the world’s largest political party which is nationalistic by its ideology and working for nation-building. I am influenced by the central and J&K party leadership and workers, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah,” Lal, who is likely to be given a party ticket from the Akhnoor Assembly constituency, said.

The former SSP said he will work to ensure the party achieves its target of 50-plus seats in the elections.

Welcoming Lal in the party fold, Raina said the continuous joining of prominent personalities like former minister Choudhary Zulfikar Ali and former MLC Murtaza Khan in the BJP has unnerved the Congress and the NC, forcing the two parties to join hands in the run-up to the Assembly polls.

“Farooq Abdullah (NC president) and Congress leadership have time and again said that they will fight the Assembly elections on their own strength but what forced them to come together suddenly. They are frightened by the BJP’s growing popularity and are staring at defeat,” he said.

Later, Raina welcomed senior Congress leader and District Development Council Member Choudhary Abdul Gani along with dozens of his supporters, including former sarpanches and panches from the twin border districts of Poonch and Rajouri.

“The joining of Gani and his supporters is a major setback for the Congress… the Congress-NC combine will be cleared of the Rajouri-Poonch belt which has suffered lack of development under their rule. They have seen the reality of development under the leadership of PM Modi during the past 10 years,” the BJP leader said.

“I am highly impressed by the working of our prime minister and his slogan of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas and Sabka Vishwas’,” he said.