'BJP activist, several youths join Cong in JK's Kishtwar'

Several youth leaders including a "prominent" BJP activist joined the Congress Wednesday in the Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir, a state Congress leader said.

BJP's state media coordinator Sheikh Imran from Gugara joined the party along with other "prominent" youth leaders in the presence of state Congress vice president and MLA G M Saroori, he said.

He said the new entrants reposed their faith in the Congress' programmes and policies, saying it alone can safeguard articles 370 and 35-A of the Constitution and ensure equitable development of the state's three regions.

Welcoming them to the party fold, Saroori said, "The Congress has always provided a vibrant platform to youths to play their designated role in the state polity and help in shaping its politico-economic destiny".

Describing the joining of the BJP state media coordinator as a "vindication of the Congress' pro-people policies, he said the time has come to unite and defeat communal forces which are befooling the poor with false slogans.