The Jammu & Kashmir unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) held a meeting of its office bearers for the first time in Srinagar on Sunday.

With a focus on further strengthening the organisation and expanding grassroots outreach, the party brought together its workers from across the Union Territory as it stressed on “continued ideological commitment” and a stronger presence at the booth level.

The party also announced a plan to gherao the Assembly next month to draw attention to alleged corruption and other issues in the ruling National Conference (NC) government.

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Party’s J&K unit president Sat Sharma chaired the meeting while MoS PMO Jitendra Singh; Leader of Opposition in the J&K Assembly, Sunil Sharma; and BJP’s General Secretary (Organisation) Ashok Koul, were among those present. The two-day meeting will conclude on Monday.

Addressing the workers’ meeting, Sat Sharma called for sustained engagement with the people and increased “pravaas” (stay) by senior leaders and office bearers to strengthen direct contact across J&K. “BJP is not merely a political organisation but a movement rooted in nationalist ideology and dedicated to public service,” he said.

While the BJP has previously held its state unit meetings in Jammu, it is for the first time that party workers gathered for an organisational meet in Srinagar.

‘Peace, normalcy returning’

Union minister Singh said there has been a paradigm shift in the mindset of people in Jammu and Kashmir after Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power at the Centre.

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“Since Prime Minister Modi’s tenure began, the atmosphere here has changed. There is peace, and normalcy is returning. Development works are going at a good pace,” Singh told reporters on the sidelines of the meeting.

At the event, BJP leadership also underlined the growing importance of social media and other platforms in taking the party’s programmes, policies and public outreach initiatives to a wider audience. The leaders urged party workers to make effective use of these platforms to strengthen communication with the people.

Stressing the significance of the meeting, LoP Sharma said that concerns of the people of J&K, “including issues to be raised in the upcoming Assembly session in September,” are being taken up in the meeting.

‘Will gherao Assembly’

He also took aim at the Omar Abdullah government, accusing it of playing with the future of the youth by “outsourcing jobs”. Additionally, “by withholding the conduct of panchayat elections in J&K, the government wants to end grassroots democracy in J&K. Besides, corruption is growing and the government is hiking power tariffs. We will gherao Assembly on September 2 over all these concerns,” Sharma said.

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Alongside the office bearers’ meeting, interactions and organisational meetings were also held with senior leaders, district presidents, prabharis and MLAs of the party.

(With PTI inputs)