Sat Sharma returns as head of J&K BJP
Srinagar, Nov 03 :
A day ahead of the first session of the Jammu and Kashmir legislative assembly, which begins on Monday, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Legislative body on Sunday elected Sunil Sharma as the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the legislative assembly, while Sikh leader and MLA from Jammu- South, Dr Narinder Singh was elected as the party’s candidate for Deputy Speaker.
Sharma is the BJP MLA from Padder assembly constituency of Kishtwar district and is also the general secretary of the party for Jammu and Kashmir.
The BJP legislative party meeting was held today in Srinagar which was presided over by Minister for New and Renewable Energy, Prahlad Joshi, and BJP National General Secretary Tarun Chugh, in-charge Jammu, Kashmir, and Ladakh affairs of the party and served as the national observer for this session–the meeting underscored the party’s strategic direction in Jammu and Kashmir.
A BJP spokesperson said the BJP UT President Sat Sharma, Member of Parliament Jugal Kishore Sharma, former Deputy Chief Minister Kavinder Gupta, former BJP President Ravinder Raina, along with 28 BJP Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) were present in the meeting.
Prahlad Joshi said the Legislative party members have unanimously elected Sunil Sharma as the Leader of the Opposition for the Jammu and Kashmir assembly.
“We are committed to being a constructive opposition, addressing public issues and contributing to the vision of a Viksit Bharat under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi,” Joshi said.
Thanking his party leaders and the MLAs for electing him Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative assembly, Sharma said that he will represent the voice of the people of Jammu and Kashmir in the legislative
BJP elects Sunil as
assembly.
“The war will begin from tomorrow. Let’s see how the enemy behaves and we will also react accordingly,” Sharma told reporters.
The four-day first session of the UT assembly will begin from Monday and will conclude on October 8. Significantly, the NC is believed to pass a resolution demanding restoration of Article 370, which gave a special status to the erstwhile J&K state and was abrogated by the BJP government on Aug 5, 2019.
On the first day, the assembly will elect the speaker, who is likely to be Abdul Rahim Rather of the National Conference.
NC has a strength of 55 legislators including its own 42, six Congress MLAs, five independents and the lone CPI(M) legislator Muhammad Yousuf Tarigami.
NC and Congress are holding separate meetings today evening followed by an alliance meeting in Srinagar.
Sources in NC said that the party will nominate senior leader and MLA Chrar-e-Sharief Abdul Rahim Rather for the speaker candidate and will seek support of its alliance partner Congress in his election.
The BJP’s legislator strengthen has reduced to 28 after the death of Davinder Singh Rana, who was MLA Nagrota constituency.
Former minister Sat Paul Sharma returned as the head of the Jammu and Kashmir unit of BJP, a post he had held for two-and-a-half years between 2015 and 2018.
Sharma, 63, was denied a party ticket in the recent assembly election. He was appointed as working president of the party in September amid resentment over ticket distribution and is now elevated to the post of president, replacing the party’s longest-serving J-K unit president Ravinder Raina.
Raina, who had replaced Sharma in May 2018 and held the post for six-and-a-half years, has been made a member of the party’s national executive. He had failed to retain his Nowshera constituency of Rajouri district as he was defeated by National Conference candidate and now deputy chief minister Surinder Choudhary.
Born in a Dogra family in Jammu, Sharma is a chartered accountant and won from the Jammu West assembly constituency on a BJP ticket for the first time in 2014 and also served as cabinet minister for 40 days in the PDP-BJP government which collapsed in 2018 after the saffron party withdrew its support.
“I am thankful to the central leadership for giving me this responsibility for the second time. I will try to overcome any shortcoming during my first tenure and will play my role to ensure the party can script history,” the BJP leader said.
He said the recent assembly elections gave the BJP “a historic mandate of 29 seats (out of 90) with a 26 per cent vote share as it made big strides across the Union Territory, especially in the Valley”.
“I am a long-time party worker and we will try to take the party to new heights with the support of the workers and the people of Jammu and Kashmir,” Sharma said.
Sharma was appointed J-K BJP president for the first term in December 2015.
It has been less than three weeks after the assembly election results in Jammu and Kashmir and the change of guard in the BJP comes at a time when the Union Territory is gearing up for the urban local bodies and panchayat elections which are likely to take place early next year.
