Ram Madhav to chair crucial 2-day BJP meet in Jammu and Kashmir

Amid back-channel parleys for government formation, the BJP is holding a crucial two-day workers and office bearers meeting to review the preparedness and chalk out strategies for local bodies and 2019 parliamentary elections in Jammu and Kashmir.

The meeting will be held from July 21 and BJP National General Secretary Ram Madhav is flying to Jammu to tour the various areas and meet the workers, besides holding a meeting with officer bearers and legislators.

On his first day, Madhav will be touring Kathua, Vijaypur, Samba, Bani, Basoli and other constituencies in Jammu division, where he will be meeting the workers in the traditional party stronghold.

"On July 21, Madhav Ji will be meeting workers in different areas of Kathua, Vijaypur, Samba, Bani, Basoli and other areas. On Sunday morning, he will chair the office bearers' meeting in Jammu. In the afternoon, he will meet all the MLAs and MLCs in party headquarters in Jammu," said Altaf Thakur, state BJP spokesman.

There are a series of meetings planned for the next week. Some central leaders are expected to attend the meeting next week. "On July 28, BJP shall hold state office bearers' meeting in Jammu. On July 29, there will be a state executive committee meeting in Jammu. Some central leaders are also expected to attend the meeting," said Thakur.

The BJP spokesman said the meeting is being held to review the preparedness of general and local bodies elections. "These meetings are being held to discuss the Parliament and impeding panchayat elections," said Thakur.

State Administrative Council (SAC), a top decision making body of the governor administration, had directed the Department of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj to initiate the process of holding elections to Panchayats, in consultation with the Chief Electoral Officer of J&K.

The BJP meeting comes against the backdrop of hectic back channel efforts for the government formation, post the Amarnath Yatra in Jammu and Kashmir. One of the PDP rebels and MLA from Noorabad constituency Abdul Majeed Padder has already claimed to have the support of 51 MLAs to form the next government in Jammu and Kashmir.

In the 87-member Legislative assembly, political formation needs the support of 44 members to form the government. PDP is the single-largest party with 28 members, followed by BJP with 25 MLAs. National Conference has 15 and Congress 12 members in the House. Former separatist leader-led People's Conference has two MLAs, while CPI-M and PDF have one member each. Rest are independents.

Insiders said BJP is also exploring the option of having the first Hindu chief minister from Jammu region in the state. There are also reports that Sajad Lone may get the deputy chief minister's post. If sources are to be believed, there will be another deputy chief minister from the PDP rebels to make the government formation an inclusive exercise.