Former J&K MLC Shahnaz Ganai joins BJP

New Delhi, Feb 12 (PTI) Former Jammu and Kashmir MLC Shahnaz Ganai on Monday joined the BJP, with the ruling party’s leaders lauding her work for the Scheduled Tribes and women in the region.

Ganai said the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has done a lot of good work for people and she has been impressed with his philosophy of ‘sabka saath sabka vikas’.

This government has empowered every section of society, including those in Jammu and Kashmir which is undergoing a “transformation”, she said, lauding the development in the “new” Kashmir. People want to strengthen Modi and the BJP, Ganai added.

The former National Conference leader joined the BJP in the presence of Union minister Jitendra Singh, the Lok Sabha MP from Udhampur, and party general secretary Tarun Chugh. Ganai lauded the government for extending reservation benefits to SCs, STs and OBCs in the erstwhile state, now a Union territory.

“We will work together to ensure a hat-trick (of win) for Modi,” Ganai said, referring to the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

Modi’s presence has ensured that Pakistan does not dare to foment trouble in border areas and people there live peacefully, she said.

Her father Ghulam Ahmed Ganai was a minister in Jammu and Kashmir.

Praising the changes in the region, Singh said over two crore tourists visited a region which earlier made news for terror acts.