KULGAM, AUGUST 17: Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party vice president Chowdhary Zulfkar Ali met with Union Home Minister Amit Shah amid speculation that he may join the BJP ahead of the upcoming assembly elections in the Union Territory next month.
Ali, an advocate, previously won the Darhal assembly seat in Rajouri district in the 2008 and 2014 elections on a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ticket. He also served as a cabinet minister in the PDP-BJP coalition government under Mehbooba Mufti from 2015 to 2018. The coalition collapsed in June 2018 when the BJP withdrew its support. In 2020, several PDP leaders, led by former minister Altaf Bukhari, established the Apni Party, with Ali being one of its founding members.
According to a BJP leader, Ali met the home minister in Delhi to discuss various matters related to Jammu and Kashmir, including the upcoming assembly elections. The leader revealed that Ali has expressed interest in joining the BJP, and his potential move to the party would be a significant boost as the BJP aims to form a government in the Union Territory.
The Election Commission announced on Friday that assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir will be held in three phases on September 18, 25, and October 1, with vote counting scheduled for October 4
