Hope new govt will come down hard on terrorism: BJP’s Ravinder Raina

Asserting that his party will fulfil its responsibility as the main opposition in Jammu and Kashmir, BJP unit chief Ravinder Raina on Wednesday said he hoped the NC-led government will come down hard on terrorism and separatism, and there will be peace and brotherhood.

He also said that the poor performance of the BJP-backed Independent candidates and some like-minded parties in Kashmir was the reason behind the National Conference-Congress coalition hitting the majority mark.

“The BJP came out with its best-ever performance by winning 29 Assembly seats and getting the highest vote share. We are thankful to the people and also acknowledge the role of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and party president JP Nadda in this spectacular performance,” Raina said.

The J&K BJP chief was speaking to reporters at the party headquarters here. Raina, who lost the Assembly election from his home constituency Nowshera in Rajouri district to the National Conference’s Surinder Choudhary, said the BJP was eyeing 35 seats and planning to form the government with party-supported Independents and like-minded groups from Kashmir.

“The performance of Independents was not up to the mark and they lost to coalition candidates,” he said.