SRINAGAR: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will launch protests across districts of Jammu and Kashmir to raise public grievances, Leader of Opposition and senior party leader Sunil Sharma said on Saturday, accusing the Omar Abdullah-led government of failing to address the concerns of ordinary people.
Addressing a press conference in Srinagar, Sharma said the decision was taken at a meeting of BJP district presidents and general secretaries held earlier in the day. He said the party, as the principal opposition, would take its campaign against the government to the streets.
Sharma alleged that the BJP had attempted to raise public issues in the Assembly but the government remained preoccupied with internal matters and administrative reshuffles.
He also criticised protests in Delhi, alleging that they were part of a conspiracy to destabilise the country by inciting young people, drawing comparisons with unrest in Nepal and Bangladesh. He accused opposition parties of targeting constitutional authorities, including Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
On the proposed Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, Sharma expressed support for the exercise, arguing that foreign nationals from Bangladesh and Pakistan should not be allowed to vote. He maintained that removing the names of deceased, shifted and untraceable voters from electoral rolls did not amount to “vote chori”.
Responding to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s remarks on delimitation, Sharma said the National Conference had benefited the most if the exercise was considered flawed. He also said Abdullah should resign on moral grounds.
Sharma further accused the Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of applying double standards and attempting to create anarchy, claiming that the parties had lost public support.
