Political street showdown in Srinagar: BJP and National Conference lock horns in high-voltage protests

Srinagar's historic streets turned into a political battlefield on a tense day as the Bharatiya Janata Party and the National Conference trained their guns on each other, trading explosive charges of betrayal, bribery, and broken promises.

Jammu and Kashmir police, assisted by the CRPF, struggled to keep the rival protests from boiling over into full-scale chaos.

Demonstrations quickly escalated into a raw contest of street power and political theatre. BJP workers, led by Leader of Opposition Sunil Sharma and Jammu and Kashmir BJP president and Rajya Sabha MP Sat Sharma, poured into Lal Chowk before marching towards Jahangir Chowk with one clear target: the Civil Secretariat besiege. 

Alleging the Omar Abdullah-led National Conference government had failed and abandoned its election promises, most notably the free 200 units of electricity, only to make life harder for ordinary people by hiking power tariffs. Worse, the BJP claimed, thousands of government jobs were given to own people through the back door in exchange for bribes.

“Resign and face the people again,” the BJP demanded, calling for Omar Abdullah’s resignation and fresh elections. Sharma and other leaders dismissed the NC’s protest, saying it's a pure political drama staged to deflect public anger. 

They rejected allegations that the lieutenant governor is obstructing the elected government, pointing out the irony of backdoor appointments even as the NC cried foul over administrative hurdles. On the question of statehood, the BJP said the demand was mere drama; restoration would come, and it would come only by and under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Hundreds of BJP workers pushed against the heavy cordon of Jammu and Kashmir Police and CRPF at Jahangir Chowk. Barricades were breached. The crowd surged forward, determined to burn an effigy of the Chief Minister outside the Secretariat. Mild lathi charges were carried by security forces to stop the march. Scuffles broke out. For a brief, charged moment, the tension threatened to spill completely out of control before forces managed to hold the line, and finally the effigy chief minister was burnt in Jhangir Chowk. 

Across the city, the National Conference staged its own march, framing the day as a fight for constitutional guarantees and the long-pending restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood. Workers assembled in Rajbagh and attempted to move towards the BJP headquarters in Jawahar Nagar. 

Here also Jammu and Kashmir police, assisted by CRPF, blocked their path. A tense standoff ensued. Scuffles erupted between police and NC legislators and workers. Several party members, including chief spokesperson Tanvir Sadiq, were detained and taken to Rajbagh Police Station. 

NC leaders reiterated that the party would continue its peaceful struggle for the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status and statehood, asserting that “every day is a day of protest” for the party.

Advisor to the Chief Minister Nasir Aslam Wani alleged that restrictions and checkpoints were imposed at multiple locations to prevent people from joining the NC protest, while BJP workers were allowed freer movement through Lal Chowk. He accused the authorities of injustice, saying, “This is injustice. Pressure and harassment will not be tolerated. We will continue to demand our rights and will do so peacefully. Insha'Allah, we will achieve them.” Wani added, “But I’m telling you, this is their rhetorical effort to muzzle the voice of Jammu and Kashmir in its struggle for the restoration of rights.”

When asked about the BJP’s corruption allegations, NC leaders rejected them, stating that all investigative agencies and the police are under the control of the BJP-led central government. “If the allegations are true, they should not wait to probe and prove them,” they said.

Notably, no Abdullha family who are from the NC government itself appeared on the streets, an absence the BJP was quick to highlight as evidence of a hollow protest. 

Byte cut off LoP Sunil Sharam, who said, "Their father and son are princes; they don't have the guts to come on roads for people's rights."

The National Conference, however, insisted its struggle was peaceful and principled, vowing to continue until statehood and special status were restored.

Heavy deployments of police and paramilitary forces at both sites prevented either side from reaching their intended destinations, the Civil Secretariat for the BJP and the BJP office for the NC. 

The dual protests laid bare the deepening hostility between the two parties in post-election Jammu and Kashmir: one accusing the other of selling out the people for power and money, the other accusing them of abandoning the region’s constitutional rights.

In the end, neither side achieved its immediate objective. But both succeeded in sharpening the political fault lines. Srinagar’s streets absorbed the drama, the accusations, and the mild violence, leaving behind a clear message: the battle between the BJP and the National Conference is no longer confined to assembly halls. It has moved onto the roads, and neither side shows any sign of blinking.

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