Jammu and Kashmir's Political Landscape Shifts: Ali's Potential BJP Alliance

Chowdhary Zulfkar Ali, vice president of Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party, met Union Home Minister Amit Shah, sparking speculation about his potential joining of the BJP ahead of the upcoming assembly elections. Ali, a twice-elected assembly member and former PDP-BJP coalition cabinet minister, discussed various issues including the elections.

Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party vice president Chowdhary Zulfkar Ali recently met with Union Home Minister Amit Shah, igniting speculation about his potential shift to the BJP ahead of the imminent assembly elections in the Union Territory.

Ali, an advocate, has a significant political history, having won the Darhal assembly constituency in the Rajouri district in both the 2008 and 2014 elections on a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ticket. He also served as a cabinet minister in the PDP-BJP coalition government under Mehbooba Mufti from 2015 until the coalition's collapse in 2018.

After the national party withdrew from the coalition, Ali and other former PDP leaders, led by Altaf Bukhari, formed the Apni party in 2020. A BJP leader confirmed Ali's meeting with the home minister in Delhi, where several key issues, including the forthcoming assembly elections, were discussed. The leader added that Ali's potential joining could significantly bolster BJP's prospects of forming a government in the Union Territory. The Election Commission has scheduled the assembly polls in three phases, on September 18, 25, and October 1, with vote counting on October 4.

(With inputs from agencies.)