After granting the scheduled Tribe status to the Pahari ethnic group, the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) has formally started beefing up its team in the Pir Panjal region ahead of the crucial ‘battle of ballot’ in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. 

With an eye on the forthcoming elections, the BJP on Monday inducted Dr Shehnaz Ganai, a former  Member of the Legislative Council into its ranks.   She joined the party in the presence of the National General Secretary and Incharge Jammu and Kashmir, Tarun Chugh, and MoS PMO Dr Jitendra Singh at the party headquarters in New Delhi. Daughter of late National Conference Pahari leader and former minister Ghulam Ahmed Ganai, Dr Shehnaz hailed from the Mandi area of Poonch.

She was elected to the Legislative Council as a National Conference nominee against the Panchayat quota in 2013 and completed her five-year term in 2018.

Dr. Ganai resigned from the membership of the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference to contest the District Development Council polls as an Independent candidate in 2020. She, however, lost the polls.

Another senior Pahari leader Mushtaq Bukhari, who spearheaded the campaign to get ST status for the Pahari Ethnic group is likely to don the saffron robes soon.

Last week, a two-time MLC from NC and prominent Gujjar leader, Haji Mohammed Hussain, also joined BJP along with hundreds of supporters in the presence of BJP State general secretary (organization), Ashok Koul. By inducting prominent leaders of the Gujjar Bakerwal and Pahari ethnic group the BJP is aiming to win the maximum Lok Sabha seats.