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Denied ticket, J&K BJP veteran Chander Mohan Sharma quits
BJP's J&K unit faces turmoil as long-time loyalist Chander Mohan Sharma resigns over unfair ticket distribution, threatens to contest independently from Jammu East.
Rattled by dissent over distribution of party tickets, Bharatiya Janata Party’s J&K unit suffered a major setback on Friday after old loyalist Chander Mohan Sharma resigned and threatened to contest as an independent from the Jammu East constituency.
Sharma’s association with the BJP goes back to over five decades from the days of the Jan Sangh.
“I joined the party in 1974 and when Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah was made the chief minister by the Congress via backdoor, I jumped on his car and the flag rod pierced my stomach. I remained hospitalised for a long time. I remained part of various party movements and was jailed several times. Today, the party has given mandate to the undeserving, including those parachuted into the party,” he told reporters, adding that the BJP has deviated from its core ideology.
BJP has been hit by an open revolt ever since its first list of candidates was released only to be withdrawn within an hour. A revised list was released but many of the candidates named in the first were not included.
“The mandate has been given to parachuted leaders, who don’t have character, qualification and integrity,” he said, reasoning the internal rumbling and protests.
The leader said people were not ready to vote for the BJP as it has become “ideologically polluted” and derailed from its principles before predicting a poor performance by the BJP in the impending polls.
“There is immense resentment and anger among leaders and workers of the party over the unfair distribution of mandates. They are holding protests to express their discontent. Saddened by this, I, one of the senior-most leaders of the BJP, along with others, have resigned from the party,” Sharma, who is also the convenor of the “Tawi Andolan”, said.
“I hope the party leadership accepts my resignation. However, if they reconsider their decision on the mandate change in the Jammu East assembly segment, it is okay. Otherwise, I will accept the calls from workers who want me to contest independently from the Jammu East seat,” he added.
A perplexed BJP leadership including party chief Ravinder Raina, MP Jugal Kishore Sharma, union minister Dr Jitendra Singh have launched a salvage exercise since rumblings within the party first surfaced.
Union minister G Kishan Reddy, national general secretary Tarun Chugh, national spokesperson RP Singh have also been tasked to soothe frayed nerves and placate leaders angry with the party.
Scores of BJP leaders from the Jammu North, Jammu East, Paddar, Reasi and Akhnoor segments have protested against the party at its headquarters and in the respective constituencies over unfair ticket distribution.
Assembly polls are being held in Jammu and Kashmir for the first time since the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019. The polls —- the first in 10 years — will be held in three phases with the first phase of polling on September 18, followed by September 25 and October 1.
