In Jammu's refugee camps, a BJP wave could sweep votes

Jammu: Kaushik Kumar, a 62-year-old, is among the one lakh refugees from West Pakistan who have been living in Jammu since 1971. He is among the 40,000 refugees who are part of the electorate for Jammu-Poonch parliamentary constituency. Standing in a long queue outside a polling station in Bishnav village to vote, Kumar said the Congress government has failed to provide a one-time settlement of their long pending demands. This time he said he will be voting for a BJP candidate for the first time in his life. [caption id=“attachment_1474423” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Voting in Bishnav village . Sameer Yasir/ Firstpost[/caption] “We always used to vote for Congress party, but this time I will vote for Modi’s candidate. At least, if he comes to power, my grandchildren can avail of the facilities, which I and my children never did,” Kumar told Firstpost. The displaced refugees, according to Kumar, have been waiting for a redressal of their grievances, but state and central government has failed to address their issues. The refugee population and migrants living in Jammu can vote in the Lok Sabha elections, but not in the Assembly elections and is one of the long pending demands of this group. They cannot apply for a government job or buy property in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Most of these refugees came into Jammu after 1947 and after the two wars of 1965 and 1971 between India and Pakistan. A majority of them are Hindu and residents of west Pakistan and some of them are Muslims. During a recent rally in Jammu, the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi had recently demanded justice for refugees from Pakistan. Pradeep Sharma, another refugee from Pakistan, said the entire refugee community will be voting for BJP as Modi had promised them their rights if he comes to power. The Congress candidates from Jammu Lok Sabha Constituency had recently claimed to have the support of the refugee population. Yet refugee leader Labha Ram Gandhi, who filed his nomination papers for the Jammu-Poonch Parliamentary constituency, later withdrew saying that he would back of BJP candidate. Gandhi announced that his organization has taken a decision to openly support BJP in view of Modis’ recent promises. Gandhi said that despite Supreme Court directives, parties like Congress have all along exploited them and got their votes, but did nothing to empower them. The BJP leadership, according to sources, has been in constant touch with refugee leaders, trying to persuade them in favour of their candidate. Long queues of people were also seen waiting to vote since early this morning in Jammu city. A majority of the people said they were voting against corruption, price rise and broken promises by their leaders. Nineteen candidates are in the fray, but the main contest is between BJP’s Jugal Kishore, the Congress candidate Madam Lal Sharma and Yash Pal Sharma of PDP. The security has been tightened in the city and on the international border to deal with any eventuality. Union Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad cast his vote at DPS polling station in Jammu city. “There are tough measures taken by the Election Commission of India (ECI) this time to ensure free and fair polling”, Azad said, after casting his vote.