The abrogation of the Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir and several welfare schemes initiated by the Centre and the state, especially for farmers, would help the BJP to win at least 75 out of the total 90 seats in the forthcoming Haryana Assembly elections, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said.
"Besides being an agrarian state, Haryana is known for having a large number of youth serving in the armed forces. So, the measures we have taken to improve the security situation in J&K, including the scrapping of the Article 370 would help us in the coming elections," said Tomar, who is also the BJP's election-in-charge for the state.
Currently, the BJP has 47 MLAs, and the state would go to the polls on October 21 to elect a new assembly.
Modi to address four rallies
He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi would address four rallies in the States -- at Ballabhgarh, Kurukshetra, Charkhi Dadri and at Hisar on October 14, 15 and 18. "We asked for his presence at more rallies. But so far got approval for only four," Tomar told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting.
The Minister said many measures are taken by the Manohar Lal Khattar government in the state, including transparent recruitment process for teachers, would help the BJP immensely. After all, it is a State where a former chief minister was convicted in a teacher recruitment scam, Tomar said.
According to the Minister, in addition to Rs 6,000 a year given by the Centre to farmers through the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-Kisan), the State government is offering an additional sum of Rs 6,000 to the farmers in the state. This is not given as a payout unlike PM-Kisan scheme, but as financial support to pay for different schemes initiated exclusively for farmers, such as premium for the pension scheme for farmers, etc.