Jammu and Kashmir BJP chief Ravinder Raina on Sunday appealed with “folded hands” to the Election Commission of India to hold Assembly polls, the desperate plea seen as an attempt to shrug off allegations that the party was running away from elections.

“Former chief minister Omar Abdullah accused us a couple of days ago of running away from elections. In front of thousands, a sea of people, I request the Election Commission of India to announce the dates for elections in Jammu and Kashmir,” Raina told a gathering in Srinagar.

“The BJP is fully ready for Assembly elections and we have full confidence that Kashmiris will overwhelmingly vote for the BJP.”

Raina was addressing a few hundred-strong gathering in Srinagar amid tight security. Many seats at the venue were vacant.

The BJP leader was referring to recent remarks of Omar that the BJP was scared of imminent defeat and was avoiding elections.

Omar also said the Election Commission of India appeared to be under pressure not to hold elections in Jammu and Kashmir and it should show the courage to tell people so.

“The Election Commission of India should muster the courage to say that they are under pressure and can’t hold elections here. On one hand, you say there is a vacuum and on the other, you are not ready to fill the vacuum. Somewhere, there is something fishy,” Omar had said.

In March, chief election commissioner Rajiv Kumar had said there was a vacuum that needed to be filled in Jammu and Kashmir.

Although Raina appeared to put up a brave face by urging the poll panel to hold Assembly elections at the earliest, his central leadership does not seem to be sharing the enthusiasm.

Aware that the BJP cannot win elections in Jammu and Kashmir without the support of Muslims, Raina recalled the sacrifices of the community, including that of Bahadur Shah Zafar, for the country’s independence.

He said India belonged to Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and Christians alike.

“I appeal to the people of Jammu and Kashmir to give one opportunity to the BJP. We will work for the development of Kashmir,” he said.

“In the last 30-35 years, Kashmir has been demonised. Nobody understood the pain of Kashmiris. If anybody understands it, it is our Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”

The BJP leader was launching the party’s Har Ghar Chalo campaign in Kashmir.

Assembly elections are long due in Jammu and Kashmir, but the BJP-led government at the Centre is not giving the go-ahead, apparently over fear of defeat.

The last Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir were held in 2014. The state-turned-Union Territory has had no Assembly since 2018 when the BJP withdrew support to the Mehbooba Mufti-led People’s Democratic Party.

The Centre argues that it has already held panchayat and urban body polls in Jammu and Kashmir.

The BJP leadership has promised to give Jammu and Kashmir its first Hindu chief minister.

In 2021, the Delimitation Commission proposed six new legislative seats for Hindu-majority Jammu and one for Muslim-majority Kashmir, which lent more credence to reports that the BJP was bent on changing the Muslim-majority character of the region.