BJP vows to safeguard reservations for backward classes in J&K, says leader

The BJP will safeguard reservations granted to backward classes after the abrogation of Article 370, senior leader Devender Singh Rana said on Saturday as he claimed that the Congress-National Conference alliance would deprive these people of their rights.

He also said any attempt to rename Shankaracharya Hill as "Takht-e-Suleiman" and Hari Parbat as "Koh-e-Maran" would be resisted as "both places are sacred and related to our faith".

National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah on Thursday announced a pre-poll alliance with the Congress for the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, which is going to the polls for the first time since the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019.

Polls to the 90-member assembly will be held in three phases -- September 18, September 25 and October 1. The counting of votes will be held on October 4.

"The Congress has aligned with the National Conference, which, in its manifesto, talked about removal/review of reservations to Scheduled Castes (SCs),