A day after the Election Commission of India announced the schedule for the much-awaited Assembly elections in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, the BJP received a shot in the arm as a prominent Gujjar leader of the twin border district of Poonch and Rajouri Choudhary Zulfikar Ali is going to join the Saffron Party.
Choudhary Zulfikar Ali, vice president of the Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party will join BJP on Sunday. He will join BJP in the presence of Union Minister G. Kishen Reddy, BJP national general secretary Tarun Chugh, and J&K BJP president Ravinder Raina.
Meanwhile, a surprising development unfolded on Friday when Choudhary Zulfikar Ali, a former minister and the vice-president of the Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party, posted a picture of himself with Union Home Minister Amit Shah on social media.
The image, accompanied by a message about their discussion on various issues related to Rajouri, Poonch, and the broader political scenario in the region, sparked widespread speculation about Zulfikar's political future.
Later in the evening, the BJP officially announced that Zulfikar is going to join the party on Sunday.
Zulfikar's inactivity within the Apni Party over the past several months has fueled rumors of his impending switch to the BJP.
His potential alignment with the BJP is seen as a strategic maneuver that could reshape the political landscape in Jammu and Kashmir, particularly given his influence in the Darhal assembly constituency and beyond.
Zulfikar, who has previously won the Darhal seat in Rajouri district during the 2008 and 2014 elections as a candidate for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), served as a cabinet minister in the PDP-BJP coalition government led by Mehbooba Mufti from 2015 to 2018.
His influence is not confined to Darhal alone; he is also a significant figure in other assembly segments in Rajouri and Poonch districts, where he commands considerable support from the Gujjar community.
Taj Mohi-ud-Din quits DPAP to rejoin Congress
With the announcement of the schedule for Assembly polls, a wave of political realignment swept through the region, with leaders making strategic moves to secure their positions in the new political landscape.
In a notable shift, Taj Mohi-ud-Din, a senior leader of the Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP), announced his intention to rejoin the Congress—a party with which he had been associated for over four decades before his recent involvement with DPAP.
This decision came after a meeting with his supporters, where Taj discussed and finalized his return to the Congress fold. His move signals a significant realignment within the political sphere of Jammu and Kashmir, as he seeks to leverage his longstanding ties with the Congress to bolster his political career.
Taj Mohi-ud-Din, who resigned from the Congress in August 2022 to support former Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and later joined the Azad-led DPAP, has now announced his return to Congress during a press conference. Emphasizing his deep-rooted connection with the party, Taj expressed his determination to rejoin Congress soon, marking another significant shift in the region's political dynamics.
These developments underscore the rapidly changing political landscape in Jammu and Kashmir as the region prepares for its first Assembly elections as a Union Territory. The decisions made by these key political figures are likely to have far-reaching implications for the future political configuration of the region.
