Jammu, Feb 23 (PTI) Union minister Jitendra Singh on Sunday held a meeting with newly elected BJP legislators here to discuss the strategy for the Budget Session of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly which is scheduled to begin on March 3, party leaders said.

The luncheon meeting, held at the Trikuta Nagar residence of the minister, was attended by Jammu and Kashmir BJP president Sat Sharma and leader of the opposition Sunil Sharma among others.

Singh is the Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office who won from Udhampur Lok Sabha constituency for the third successive term in last year's general elections.

He said the meeting was exclusively convened to discuss the party's strategy for the Budget Session which is taking place for the first time after 2018 when the PDP-BJP government collapsed in the erstwhile state.

The BJP won 29 seats, all in the Jammu region, in the Assembly elections held last year. However, one of their elected members -- Devender Singh Rana -- passed away in October, just two weeks after the formation of the National Conference-led government in the Union Territory. Rana was the younger brother of Jitendra Singh.

"It is the tradition of the BJP to hold such meetings with the elected representatives so that vital public issues are raised forcefully in the assembly," Singh told reporters after the meeting.

He said an elected government could not be formed in Jammu and Kashmir for a long time, creating a vacuum.

"We want the multi-tier system to function smoothly and that is possible when there is synergy between the District Development Council (DDC) members and the MLAs," the minister said.

He said encroachments, illegal mining and drug addiction are some of the major challenges faced by society and asserted that the BJP will focus on not making "unnecessary noise but raise issues based on a solid foundation".

The minister said the politics of the BJP revolves around nationalism but the interests of the people of Jammu and Kashmir are also equally important for it.

"The BJP government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has undone all wrongs in Jammu and Kashmir in the last 10 years by ensuring the development of all the areas, especially those discriminated against by the previous governments.

"The remotest parts of Doda, Kishtwar, and Bani and Basohli were connected with roads and a number of schools were also set up in the last 10 years," he said.

Doda, Kishtwar, and Bani and Basohli in Kathua come under Singh's Udhampur Lok Sabha constituency.

The BJP leader highlighted the importance of the Budget Session, saying “We will talk on the vital issues concerning the people." He said drug addiction has emerged as a major challenge for society and so is the problem of encroachments and illegal mining besides the need for skill capacity development of the youth and creating ample job opportunities for them.

"We could not manage to get into the government and ensure double-engine benefits to the region like Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh, but we will make sure that the voice of Jammu echoes in the assembly," he said. PTI TAS RHL

Budget session strategy: party to press regional development, anti-encroachment, anti-illegal-mining and anti-drug measures in assembly. Party leaders met to plan coordinated interventions in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Budget Session, prioritising assembly advocacy on encroachments, illegal mining, drug addiction, youth skill development and employment, and strengthening MLA-District Development Council coordination so multi tier governance functions effectively; the strategy emphasizes raising documented regional development demands in the Budget forum rather than rhetorical campaigning.