Won’t quit party, but may contest as Independent: BJP’s J&K vice-chief

The Udhampur East constituency has become another thorn in the BJP’s neck after the party released its sixth list of candidates for the Assembly poll.

Party’s Jammu and Kashmir vice-president Pawan Khajuria has hinted that he would contest as an Independent after the party fielded another leader from the constituency.

Khajuria was expecting ticket from Udhampur East constituency but another senior leader RS Pathania was allotted the ticket on Sunday. Pathania had defeated former minister and Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party candidate Harsh Dev Singh in Ramnagar segment in the 2014 Assembly poll.

‘Aspirants’ appointed on party positions

• To quell further dissent in the party over ticket allocation, the BJP has appointed many senior leaders, who were ‘seeking ticket’ from different constituencies but could not secure party mandate, on top posts of the party.
• BJP national president JP Nadda has appointed Sat Sharma as the working president for J&K, while former Deputy CM Nirmal Singh was appointed as the chairperson of the party’s J&K election campaign committee.
• Another senior leader Choudhary Sukhnandan was appointed as the BJP’s Jammu and Kashmir vice-president and former Deputy Chief Minister Kavinder Gupta as the chairperson of the state poll management committee.

However, party’s local cadre in Udhampur staged protest against the BJP’s decision to allot ticket to Pathania. Khajuria’s supporters on Monday said they would vote against the party candidate if the decision wasn’t rolled back and the ticket was not allotted to Khajuria.

During a rally, the party’s UT vice-president also indicated that he might file the nomination as an Independent candidate on September 11 if his “supporters wanted the same”.

However, he clarified that he would not quit the saffron party. His supporters asserted that they would support Khajuria even if he contested as an Independent.

Meanwhile, the National Conference has fielded Sunil Verma from the Udhampur East constituency under its alliance with the Congress. The PDP on Monday fielded Baqeel Singh from the Udhampur East seat.

The latest development is likely to split the vote bank of the BJP, which is already facing infighting and rebellion in Shri Mata Vaishno Devi, Akhnoor and Rajouri seats over ticket allocation.

The saffron party is making several efforts to reach out to disgruntled leaders and make peace with them so that it doesn’t harm its poll prospects. RSS functionary and BJP’s election in-charge for J&K Ram Madhav has conducted many meetings over the ongoing strife within the party.