Don’t vote for dynastic parties, Shah tells Kashmiri delegations

Srinagar: Home Minister Amit Shah told various delegations during his two-day visit to Kashmir that they should not vote for dynastic parties. The Home Minister met delegations of the Pahari community, Sikh community and Gujjar/Bakarwals, and also had detailed discussions about party affairs with local BJP leaders. He returned to Delhi after wrapping up his visit.

Speaking to reporters later, the leaders of Pahari community said they had thanked the Home Minister for granting them the ST status, for which the community had been fighting for several decades in J&K. “We expressed our unhappiness for the BJP not fielding any candidate in the three Lok Sabha seats of the Valley. We, however, assured him that the community would abide by the decisions taken by him in such a situation,” a Pahari leader said.

The Sikh delegation told the Shah that the members of this community living in Baramulla, Keran and Uri were all Paharis, but they had been kept out of the ST status granted to Paharis. The Sikh delegation also demanded that the language in which their holy scriptures are written should be included in universities to preserve this language.

A Bakarwal delegation also met the Home Minister. Their leaders later said that he had asked them to vote for any candidate they liked, except those of the dynastic families of NC, PDP and the Congress. Shah also met BJP leaders, with whom he had detailed discussions about the political situation and party interests in J&K.

Shah had arrived here on Thursday evening. He was received by BJP leaders at the Srinagar airport and the Home Minister drove to the Lalit Grand Palace Hotel near the Dal Lake in Srinagar. Local BJP leaders had said Shah would hold a review meeting on the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir as the Lok Sabha elections will be followed by the annual Amarnath Yatra, which is scheduled to start on June 29 and conclude on August 19. However, there was no official word on it.