J&K polls: Senior BJP leader resigns, threatens to contest as independent

In yet another rebellion within the BJP in Jammu and Kashmir over ticket distribution for the assembly elections, senior party leader Chander Mohan Sharma Friday announced his resignation from the party and threatened to contest as an Independent.

The BJP is facing resentment over its ticket distribution in the Union territory, with party leaders and workers protesting in several districts of the Jammu region. This has prompted the party to launch a damage control exercise, deploying several top leaders, including Union ministers, to defuse the situation.

"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, the convenor of the 'Tawi Andolan', told reporters here.

 

Advocate Sharma, who joined the BJP in the early 1970s, criticised the party leadership in J&K for improperly presenting the proposal for mandates to the party high command.

"We 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.

"The people of the Jammu East segment fully support us, having worked closely with us during the Tawi Andolan movement," he added. "It is now time for the senior BJP leaders camping here to make a decision on this matter."

Sharma, who joined the Jan Sangh decades ago and faced multiple prison terms as a BJP activist, lamented at being ignored despite his senior position in the party unit.

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 the ticket distribution.

Senior BJP leaders, including Union ministers GK Reddy and Jitendra Singh and national general secretary Tarun Chugh, currently camping in Jammu are working to defuse the situation faced by the party in these elections.

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.

The counting of votes will be done on October 4.