To gear up the J&K unit of the BJP for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, party President JP Nadda is arriving here on 7 January to chalk out poll strategy during a series of meetings with the local leaders.

The BJP leader will take stock of the party’s preparedness for the Lok Sabha polls in the wake of the geographical change the constituencies have witnessed after the recent delimitation.

It is learnt that Nadda would be accompanied by the party’s J&K in-charge Tarun Chugh and co-incharge Ashish Sood.

During his day-long visit, the BJP president is likely to hold meetings with senior party functionaries, core group, heads of different morchas and district presidents.

He is expected to work out the party’s poll strategy to counter the Congress and the regional parties in the Union territory.

Meanwhile, the Congress is also readying its cadre for the polls. Recently-appointed party in-charge Bharatsinh Solanki and general secretary GA Mir are coming here on 5 January to review poll strategy of the party.

While Solanki is new to J&K, Mir was the Congress chief here and also a minister.

Both leaders will address a convention to prepare the party for the polls.

The Congress will contest elections this time around in the absence of its erstwhile stalwart, Ghulam Nabi Azad, who has quit the party and formed the Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP), which is expected to field its own candidates in the elections.

Meanwhile, mainstream regional parties, the National Conference (NC), PDP, Apni Party, Peoples Conference and others have also intensified their political activities as the elections are drawing near.

The question doing the rounds in the political circles here is whether the NC and the PDP will evolve a seat-sharing formula before the elections.

Of the five Lok Sabha seats in J&K, the NC is currently representing all the three constituencies of the Kashmir Valley, while the BJP had won both seats of the Jammu division.

The BJP is expecting to improve its tally this time as some segments of the Poonch and Rajouri districts of Jammu have been included in Kashmir’s Anantnag Lok Sabha seat in the fresh delimitation of constituencies.