JAMMU: Former J&K minister and one of the founding members of the J&K Apni Party, Chowdhary Zulfkar Ali, officially joined the BJP on Sunday at the party's headquarters in Jammu. This move comes shortly after the election commission announced assembly polls in J&K starting on September 18. Zulfkar was welcomed into the BJP by Union minister and BJP's J&K assembly election in-charge G Kishan Reddy, BJP national general secretary Tarun Chugh, J&K BJP president Ravinder Raina, and Union minister of state for PMO Jitendra Singh. Prior to joining the BJP, Zulfkar had a meeting with Union home minister Amit Shah in Delhi.

Zulfkar expressed that he decided to join the BJP to work for the betterment of the ST community and the development of the Rajouri-Poonch area. Reflecting on his time in the J&K government, he acknowledged the challenges faced by his community and the compromises made for survival, mentioning their association with the National Conference. Zulfkar had previously served as a cabinet minister in J&K from 2015 to 2018, overseeing departments such as food and civil supplies and tribal affairs.