Srinagar: On Sunday, National Conference (NC) provincial president Devender Singh Rana quit the party. The NC confirmed the resignation of Devender Singh Rana and Surjit Singh Slathia on Twitter.
In a tweet, the NC said, “Dr Farooq Abdullah has received and accepted the resignations of Mr Slathia and Mr Rana. No further action or comment is deemed necessary.”
Now, there are speculation that Devender Singh Rana, who left for Delhi, may join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He will reach Delhi at around 6 pm on Sunday.
Devender Singh Rana confirmed his resignation, according to India Today, “Yes, I have resigned from NC. You will get to know about my next move soon. I’m in flight right now,” he said.
The resignation of Devender Singh Rana, who was a close aide of Abdullahs and NC’s prominent Hindu face, could trigger a churn in Jammu and Kashmir’s politics.
Both Devender Singh Rana and SS Slathia are likely to join the BJP tomorrow.
Devender Rana enjoys mass support and has a good rapport with the people of J&K. He also enjoys support of Muslim and Gujjar community in Jammu and Kashmir.
He had won from Hindu-majority Nagrota assembly seat of Jammu in 2014 on an NC ticket. He also served as political advisor to Omar Abdullah when the latter was the chief minister of J&K.
Last week, several pro-Jammu leaders like Chowdhary Lal Singh of Dogra Swabhiman Sangathan and Harsh Dev Singh of National Panthers Party had meetings with Rana amid speculations that he was switching over to the BJP.
Of late, Rana had begun to talk about the ‘Jammu declaration’ which talks about the need to protect aspirations and interests of the people in Jammu region’. He had said he was ready to make any sacrifice to protect the interests of Jammu region.
The Jammu declaration is considered a counter to People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration, an alliance of regional parties, which seeks the restoration of Article 370 and statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.
Rana could be a potential chief ministerial candidate for the BJP from Jammu. The move could galvanize the voters in Jammu towards the party and offset the anger and frustration among the BJP supporters in Jammu against the party’s policies in J&K after the revocation of Article 370.
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