Two leaders with a background steeped deep in the Sangh Parivar, each hailing from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana respectively, are leading the Bharatiya Janata Party’s ambitious campaign in the upcoming polls in the Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory. The assembly elections in the valley will be held for the first time in a decade, which will also mark half a decade since the abrogation of Article 370 and the bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir into a Union Territory.
Elections will be conducted in three phases for 90 Assembly seats in Jammu and Kashmir, starting from September 18. The BJP ruled the state for the first time from 2014 to 2018, thanks to then BJP General Secretary Ram Madhav, who was instrumental in stitching the alliance with the PDP during that period.
A columnist, editor and author, Ram Madhav hails from the erstwhile East Godavari district of coastal Andhra Pradesh, where he completed his early education. He was attracted to the RSS ideology early in life and went on to hold key positions in the RSS as well as in the BJP, to which he was appointed in 2014.
From 2015 to 2018, Madhav was credited with securing significant gains for the BJP in the northeastern states by forming alliances with smaller parties and leaders to capture the states. Although he was busy with national assignments between 2014 and 2020, he did attempt to change the fortunes of the BJP in his native state, Andhra Pradesh. He was very active before the general elections of 2019 and made multiple trips to the state.
"He had lot of plans and strategies for the BJP in Andhra Pradesh. He held meetings, motivated us, and was also responsible for bringing leaders from other political parties into the BJP. They trusted his image and joined our party. This happened not just in Andhra Pradesh but also in Telangana," said one BJP leader from Andhra Pradesh who did not wish to be quoted. Local leaders recall how well-informed Ram Madhav was on national as well as international issues and topics.
However, for a person who painted the complicated and conflict-ridden territories saffron, his own coastal state proved to be challenging. Ram Madhav was entrusted with Andhra Pradesh after then CM and TDP supremo N. Chandrababu Naidu walked out of the NDA in 2018. In the 2019 Assembly and general elections, the BJP failed to win even a single seat in the state. The party was facing severe heat for failing to grant special category status.
In the run-up to the elections, Ram Madhav’s statements about the BJP’s intention of doing more for the state than just granting special category status did not gain much traction. After 2020, when Ram Madhav was replaced as general secretary, his political activity in the state almost ceased. Ram Madhav is associated with multiple think tanks and is considered an authority on foreign and geopolitical affairs.
In the case of senior leader and MP G. Kishan Reddy, a setback he received in 2018 turned into an unexpected opportunity and thrust him onto the national scene. Kishan Reddy, who is now the Minister of Coal and Mines, is also the BJP in-charge of Jammu and Kashmir and will work closely with Ram Madhav. Having won multiple times as an MLA from the Amberpet constituency in the heart of Hyderabad, he once again entered the electoral fray in the 2018 Assembly elections. The BJP performed poorly, and almost all the senior leaders lost their elections, including Kishan Reddy.
In the ensuing general elections, held a few months later in 2019, he contested as an MP from the Secunderabad constituency and won with an impressive margin. He was offered the Ministry of State under the Home portfolio in the Modi 2.0 government. In 2020, when the Centre scrapped Article 370 and bifurcated the state of Jammu and Kashmir, Kishan Reddy’s key assignment began immediately as he was tasked with explaining to the public the positive outcomes of the move.
For the next few months, Kishan Reddy spoke extensively on the changes in the Kashmir Valley post the removal of Article 370. Whether it was an educational seminar or a private event, he was always ready to discuss Kashmir, equipped with figures and facts. He highlighted that violence in the valley has been curbed and economic activity had progressed after the NDA government’s decision. In 2024, as the Telangana BJP President, Kishan Reddy won the election once again from the Secunderabad seat. Due to his familiarity with Kashmir and its issues during the previous term, the BJP is now banking on this leader from Telangana to deliver the goods in the Jammu and Kashmir elections.
