Sofi Yousuf: Kashmiri Muslim Leader, BJP Pick For Bijbehara (image:x.com/imSofiYousuf)

Traditionally, Bijbehara Assembly segment is a PDP bastion. While Iltija Mufti, daughter of PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, is making her political debut from the constituency for the upcoming assembly election, the BJP has chosen to field Sofi Yousuf, vice president of UT J&K. He hails from the Srigufwara area in South Kashmir’s Anantnag.

A former police constable, Yousuf is one of the founding members of the BJP in Kashmir and one of the BJP’s most senior Kashmiri Muslim leaders. “I joined the party in 1996. At that time, Kashmir was in the grip of militancy,” Scroll.in reported, as Yousuf is saying.

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He says he has survived several militant attempts on his life. In September 1999, while campaigning for the Lok Sabha election, the BJP’s Anantnag candidate Ghulam Hyder Noorani got killed in a mine blast along with two other men. Yousuf was with him, and he was injured.

While talking to reporters recently, he underlined the party’s focus on development and the positive impact of the Centre’s policies since 2014 under the leadership of PM Modi.

“Since the changes on August 5, 2019, we have seen a reduction in stone-pelting incidents, cross-firing, and separatist activities,” Yousuf said. He underlined improvements in everyday life and added that common people are living more comfortably.

Though the electoral field is not new to Yousuf, he has not tasted victory in the polls so far. He unsuccessfully contested Assembly polls in 2002, 2008, and 2014, and parliamentary elections in 2004, 2009, and 2014 on BJP tickets.

However, when the BJP-PDP coalition government came to power in 2015, he got elected as the Member of the Legislative Council, the Upper House of the J&K Legislative Assembly, and became the BJP’s first Kashmir Muslim lawmaker.

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Meanwhile, in September last year, Yousuf served a show-cause notice for indulging in “anti-party” activities. The disciplinary committee also criticised him for an attempt to create dissent in the party cadre.

Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir will be held on three phases –  September 18, September 25 and October 1. The results will be announced on October 4.