Rajouri-Poonch should be made separate UT : BJP’s Zulfikar Ali

Stocking a controversy ahead of the government formation in Jammu and Kashmir, BJP leader Chowdhary Zulfikar Ali, who recently lost from Budhal seat in Rajouri district, has said that Rajouri and Poonch districts should be given Union Territory (UT) status as successive governments have discriminated against the region.

As per reports, Zulfikar was speaking at an event in Budhal constituency where he said that people of the region should now rise like people of Ladakh and demand UT status to end the discrimination.

“You should rise like people of Ladakh and demand UT status for Rajouri and Poonch. We do not want to live with anyone…why should we… we have tolerated a lot but there has always been discrimination against our region,” he said.

The video in which Zulfikar was speaking went viral on social media in J&K. The exact date of the video is unknown but it was recorded after Assembly polls.

Referring to National Conference and Congress, the BJP leader further said that despite these political parties getting seats from the region, they have done nothing for Rajouri and Poonch. He said that even in the recently conducted polls, seven MLAs are siding with these parties. “But I am sure that nothing will be done again for the region,” he said. Besides their own MLAs from Rajouri and Poonch, independents from the areas have also aligned with NC-Congress.

Zulfikar had joined BJP before the Assembly elections believing that the Pahari people, who were granted ST status this year, will vote for him but he lost to the NC candidate Javed Choudhary.