Former Jammu and Kashmir Cabinet Minister Chowdhary Zulfkar Ali has formally joined the Bharatiya Janata Party with an eye on the Assembly elections in the Union Territory.
Zulfkar Ali said he is impressed with the policies of the BJP under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"I have been inspired by the programmes and policies of the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and I joined the BJP today," he said.
Zulfkar Ali had contested and won as a two-time MLA from the Darhal-Kotranka Assembly constituency on a PDP ticket. He had joined the Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party in 2020 and was its Vice President till now.
He noted a big difference in the reach of government schemes to now apply to a much larger section of the population.
"If the schemes so far used to reach a select few, today, these schemes reach everyone, to those standing in the last row, to those who actually need it," he said.
He also said, "Now, under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, every scheme is reaching every house. If you go to villages today, where there used to be kutcha houses, now there are pucca houses.".
However, heaping praise on the Modi government for improving healthcare and other basic amenities, Zulfkar added, "People did not used to have money for medical checkups, but the BJP introduced health cards for them. Every household is getting water and electricity. All these steps have influenced us."
He said that there was a need to come out of the slogan-based scenario to actual and result-based governance.
"All these schemes have influenced us to move beyond slogan-based politics and towards real politics. I am hopeful that the BJP will form the government in Jammu and Kashmir on its own strength," he finally said.
Elections in Jammu and Kashmir have been slated by the Election Commission of India to be held in three phases on September 18, September 25, and October 1, while the counting of votes is scheduled for October 4.
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