The recent deadlock over the suspension of the Sarore toll plaza in Samba and the installation of Smart electricity meters in Jammu has severely dented the image of the local unit of the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP).
At the same time, the manner in which the local unit of the party responded to the crisis and internally handled the situation has also exposed the fault lines within the J&K unit.
Instead of presenting the united face of the party, several senior party leaders pulled in different directions at a crucial time and buckled under the pressure. The local BJP unit also failed to get its act together and could not sense the growing public anger
Political observers claimed, "The faction-ridden J&K unit of the party failed to see the writing on the wall despite repeated warnings by the civil society to respond to their genuine grievances before it was too late to make amends".
Meanwhile, a day after Jammu witnessed a complete shutdown over two dozen workers including leaders of Yuva Rajput Sabha were released from the Kathua jail early Sunday morning.
The custody of the arrested leaders was handed over to the Samba police before they were set free.