Bharatiya Janata Party national president JP Nadda on Monday prayed at the Vaishno Devi temple and urged the party leadership in Jammu & Kashmir to prepare for assembly elections that could be announced anytime.

BJP leaders in Jammu said the visit assumes importance as Union Home Minister Amit Shah recently informed that assembly elections in J&K would be held within eight months.

This is BJP chief’s first visit to the UT, after the passing of the J&K Reorganisation Act on August 5 and 6 in 2019 through which the special status of J&K was revoked and the state was downgraded into the two union territories of J&K and Ladakh.

Nadda, was accompanied by union Minister Jitendra Singh, and party’s national general secretary and incharge of J&K, Tarun Chugh among others. He got a rousing welcome in Jammu city, as the party’s youth wing had made elaborate celebratory arrangements besides taking out a procession along his cavalcade from outside the airport.

“The atmosphere of positive change is clearly visible in J&K,” Nadda tweeted.

Nadda, who was on a day’s trip to Jammu, directly drove to Mata Vaishno Devi shrine from the city. “Got the good fortune of visiting Maa Vaishno Devi with family today in Jammu. A positive energy has been infused with the darshan of Mata Rani. Mother bless all countrymen. Hail mother goddess,” Nadda tweeted from the shrine.

The BJP leaders said that he prayed for the party’s win in the five states where assembly elections concluded recently. The counting of votes in the five states of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Manipur and Goa, is schedu

On his return to Jammu city, he chaired a meeting with the party leaders and other members. “Naddaji hinted that the assembly elections could be announced anytime and the party should prepare for that,” said Manzor Bhat, BJP’s media incharge in Kashmir, who participated in the meeting.

The BJP national president also praised the party’s Kashmir unit for working in ‘challenging circumstances.’ “He said that sacrifices of the BJP workers will bear fruit soon, as the party is going to form the government here,” said Bhat. The meeting lasted for over 150 minutes and Nadda got a detailed review from the members.

In J&K, the delimitation commission is scheduled to submit its report by May 6 this year and after its submission, the Election Commission of India is likely to start a process of revision of electoral rolls. The last assembly elections in J&K took place in December 2014 and the PDP-BJP coalition government was formed in 2015.

In June 2018, the BJP withdrew support from the coalition government and since then, J&K has been under governor’s rule and then under President’s rule. Union home minister Amit Shah had recently said that the assembly elections in J&K would be held within six to eight months after the delimitation process was completed and later the statehood of the UT would be restored.