Jammu: Former state president of PDP's Scheduled Caste wing Vijay Anand on Thursday joined the BJP along with six others here, a party spokesperson said.

Anand accompanied by Sanjay Kumar, Himanshu, Ravi Kumar, Rakesh Kumar, Ajay Kumar and John Sotra joined the BJP's Scheduled Caste wing in presence of its state president Jagdish Bhagat and state spokesperson Balbir Ram Rattan.

Welcoming the new entrants into the party fold, Bhagat said the BJP has relieved 'Valmiki Samaj' of the sufferings which they had to bear during the last 70 years due to Article 370.

"These people were not treated as citizens of the state and their educated children could not apply for the government jobs or other benefits," he said, adding the BJP abrogated the provisions of Article 370 to benefit the weaker sections of the society.