INDIA bloc just a photo-op, will not stand anywhere: BJP

Srinagar, Jan 25 (PTI) The INDIA bloc is just a photo-op and will not stand anywhere in the country, the BJP said on Thursday, a day after TMC asserted that it would go solo in the elections in West Bengal.

“Our leaders had already said that it (bloc) was a photo session and nothing else. They clicked the photos and you will see what will happen to this alliance. You saw what happened in West Bengal, Delhi and Punjab, what else remains there? We believe that this alliance will not stand anywhere,” BJP general secretary (organisation), Jammu and Kashmir, Ashok Koul, said here.

Koul was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an event here which was organised as part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s nationwide interaction with first-time voters on National Voters Day.

Asked about the conduct of assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, Koul said the polls will take place.

“There is a decision by the Supreme Court as well and they will happen,” he added, referring to the SC directing the Election Commission to conduct elections to the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly before September 30, 2024.

The SC directions came while pronouncing the verdict on a batch of petitions challenging the revocation of Article 370.

To a question about the Assam government stopping Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra from entering some places in the state, the BJP leader said such decisions are taken after assessing the situation, but the party was not against any person’s wishes.

“The Assam government may have stopped him somewhere, but it is not like that he was deliberately or forcibly stopped. Some steps are taken after assessing the situation and they must have taken some steps after that. It is not like we are against anyone or oppose anyone or will not allow someone to fulfil his wishes,” Koul said.