Political activist, 2 others join BJP in Jammu

Three prominent persons of Kishtwar, including a political activist, joined the BJP here on Sunday in the presence of Jammu and Kashmir party unit president Ravinder Raina.

Veteran political activist Omar Prakash Parihar, former chief engineer Bhushan Lal Dhar and former dental assistant Gopinath, all residents of Dachhan village, joined the BJP and pledged to strengthen it at the grassroots level, a party spokesman said.

Meanwhile, BJP spokesperson Brig Anil Gupta (retd) targeted the opposition parties in the state over the strike called by the National Panthers Party (NPP). He said the failure of the "Jammu bandh" called by the NPP on Saturday exposed the "hollowness" of the opposition, proving the proverb "empty vessels make more noise" true.

Accusing the Congress, which supported the bandh call, of lacking the courage to face the people on its own strength, Gupta said the party has tried to cover its own failure by blaming the BJP.

"They need to win the confidence of the people through positive acts since days of negative, communal and divisive politics on which these parties thrive are gone and they have been rejected repeatedly by the people," he said.

"Post-August 5 (the day when Centre abrogated Article 370), militancy is on the decline, terrorists are on the run, separatists have been cut to size, calm and peace prevails in the Valley but the opposition wants to deliberately feign all this as 'suppressive measures' and demoralise the administration through false accusations," the BJP leader said.

Rather than blaming the BJP or the administration for their "ills and loss of public support", the opposition needs to carry out a thorough introspection and chalk out a "people-friendly strategy" and play a constructive role, Gupta added.