With the Election Commission sounding the poll bugle for the Jammu and Kashmir elections, the political parties have intensified their public outreach. The BJP, which is facing its first big challenge in Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370, is looking to make inroads in the valley and maintain its winning streak in the Jammu region. Since the challenge is big this time, the party has deployed its trusted warhorse again this time.
According to reports, Ram Madhav, the strategic force behind the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) rise to power in Jammu & Kashmir through the 2015 coalition with the PDP, has returned to the forefront after nearly four years of relative inactivity. Following a series of high-level meetings and discussions with the party’s leadership, the BJP has named Madhav as co-in-charge of the upcoming Jammu and Kashmir elections, alongside G Kishan Reddy. This marks the first assembly election in the region since the revocation of Article 370.
Madhav, who held the position of general secretary (organisation) in the party for over five years, was removed from the role in 2020 before being reappointed to the RSS central committee in 2021. In addition to his work in Jammu & Kashmir, Madhav’s efforts in expanding the BJP’s presence in northeastern states have also garnered significant attention within the party.
Renowned as the BJP’s “firefighter” and a key figure in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s global outreach, including events like Madison Square and Howdy Modi in the United States, Madhav’s political career has been marked by “resilience and reinvention,” according to a senior RSS member who has closely collaborated with him.
Jammu and Kashmir will go to the polls in three phases on -September 18, September 25 and October 1 and the counting of votes will take place on October 4 along with Haryana.
