BJP's Srinagar Rally

The massive mobilisation of Bharatiya Janata Party workers at Srinagar's historic Lal Chowk has delivered a political message that cannot be dismissed as just another protest. The September 2 rally represents an important shift in the politics of Jammu and Kashmir and demonstrates the BJP's determination to challenge the National Conference not merely inside the Legislative Assembly, but also on the streets of Kashmir. Advertisment BJP workers assembled at Ghanta Ghar in Lal Chowk and attempted to march towards the Civil Secretariat, raising issues including unemployment, electricity tariffs, alleged corruption, outsourcing and backdoor appointments, delay in grassroots elections and what the party described as the National Conference government's failure to honour its electoral commitments. The importance of the mobilisation, however, goes much beyond these immediate issues. For decades, BJP's political opponents have attempted to portray it as essentially a Jammu-centric force with limited political space in the Kashmir Valley. The Srinagar mobilisation challenges that narrative. A political party does not establish itself in a new political territory overnight. It does so by building cadres, raising public issues, creating local leadership and, most importantly, demonstrating the organisational capacity and political confidence to take its message directly to the people. That is precisely why Lal Chowk matters. The BJP presently has no Assembly seat from the Kashmir Valley. Yet the sight of hundreds of its workers assembling at the symbolic heart of Srinagar and seeking to march towards the seat of government demonstrates that electoral representation and organisational presence are not necessarily the same thing. The message from the BJP is clear: it intends to fight for political space in Kashmir. Advertisment Perhaps the most significant feature of the rally was the choice of issues. The BJP did not restrict its campaign to constitutional questions or nationalism. It raised unemployment, electricity tariffs, recruitment, roads, water, corruption and governance. This represents an important evolution in its Kashmir strategy. The constitutional transformation of August 2019 fundamentally altered the political framework of Jammu and Kashmir. But the next phase of politics will increasingly be determined by something much more immediate to ordinary citizens: who can deliver better governance? A young Kashmiri looking for employment is concerned about recruitment. A household struggling with electricity charges is concerned about its monthly bill. A daily wager wants regularisation and economic security. A village wants roads, water and development. These are questions of everyday life. By taking these issues to Lal Chowk, the BJP sought to place the Omar Abdullah government directly in the dock of public accountability. The National Conference secured the mandate to govern. With that mandate came responsibility. There is a fundamental difference between being in opposition and being in government. An opposition party can make promises; a government must deliver them. Advertisment The BJP is now seeking answers on commitments concerning jobs, electricity and other public issues. Its political message is straightforward: the election is over; now show the results. The NC cannot indefinitely answer questions about its performance by shifting every political debate towards the Centre. Where the elected government possesses authority, it must exercise that authority. Where it has made promises to the electorate, people are entitled to ask what has happened to those promises. That is the essence of democratic accountability. The political significance of the rally was further underlined by the response it generated. The National Conference too took to the streets, seeking to march towards the BJP headquarters while raising the demand for restoration of statehood and other constitutional issues. For the first time, the ruling NC and the principal opposition BJP confronted each other through parallel street mobilisations in Srinagar. The contrast between their respective political narratives was striking. The BJP asked the NC government about jobs, electricity, corruption, recruitment and governance, while the NC sought answers from the BJP-led Centre over statehood and constitutional commitments. This has effectively crystallised an emerging political contest in Jammu and Kashmir. The BJP wants the public debate centred on the performance of the elected NC government. The NC wants the debate centred on decisions and commitments of the Union Government. Ultimately, the people will judge both. As Chief Spokesperson of BJP J&K, I have consistently emphasised, democratic politics must ultimately be measured by governance and delivery rather than slogans. The BJP's Srinagar mobilisation seeks to bring that principle into the centre of the political debate in Kashmir. BJP spokesperson Altaf Thakur, meanwhile, has repeatedly questioned the National Conference leadership over its electoral commitments and challenged the government to explain its performance on issues affecting ordinary people. The Srinagar mobilisation has given those questions a larger public platform. Political rallies should never be assessed merely through competing claims about attendance. Location, symbolism and political context matter equally. Lal Chowk occupies a unique position in Kashmir's political history. A strong BJP mobilisation there therefore carries a significance different from that of an ordinary party meeting elsewhere. It demonstrates the changing character of public politics in Kashmir. The BJP worker in the Valley today is increasingly visible and politically assertive. That organisational confidence is important for a party seeking long-term expansion in a region where it has historically faced considerable political resistance. Elections are eventually won at polling booths, but political journeys begin much earlier—in mohallas, villages, markets and public squares. The Srinagar rally should therefore be understood in that larger context. One successful mobilisation does not transform an electoral landscape. BJP would be making a mistake if it regarded the Srinagar rally as an end in itself. It should instead be treated as a beginning. Advertisment The party now needs sustained programmes across Kashmir focusing on employment, tourism, horticulture, electricity, infrastructure, corruption, recruitment transparency and the concerns of young people. It must develop credible local leadership capable of articulating Kashmir-specific concerns while remaining connected with the party's larger national vision. If the BJP can convert episodic mobilisation into sustained grassroots politics, the consequences could be significant. The larger message emerging from Srinagar is that Jammu and Kashmir politics is gradually moving towards a new phase. Old political narratives will continue to have relevance, but they will increasingly have to compete with questions of performance. How many jobs were created? How quickly were recruitments completed? What happened to electricity promises? Have ordinary families received economic relief? Are local democratic institutions functioning? Has corruption declined? Has development reached the ground? These questions cannot be answered by slogans. They require governance. And that is where the BJP has attempted to place the National Conference through its Srinagar mobilisation. The Omar Abdullah government still has considerable time to demonstrate its performance. But the BJP has made it clear that it intends to scrutinise that performance aggressively and take those questions directly to the people. The most important outcome of the Srinagar rally may therefore be psychological. The BJP has demonstrated that it is prepared to enter the political battlefield of Kashmir directly and visibly. The National Conference's immediate counter-mobilisation shows that it understands the challenge. The battle ahead will not merely be BJP versus NC. It will increasingly be promise versus performance, rhetoric versus delivery and traditional political narratives versus the everyday aspirations of a changing Jammu and Kashmir. Lal Chowk has witnessed many defining moments in Kashmir's political history. The BJP mobilisation of September 2 may eventually be remembered as another important moment—the day when the party emphatically declared that Kashmir's political space cannot remain the exclusive preserve of any party or political family. Advertisment Democracy belongs to everyone. And from the heart of Srinagar, the BJP has made it clear that it intends to contest every inch of that democratic space. Advocate Sunil Sethi, Chief Spokesperson BJP J&K. Altaf Thakur, Spokesperson BJP J&K.