BJP workers protest candidate selections in J-K Assembly polls, demand changes

JAMMU — Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers in Jammu and Kashmir expressed their dissatisfaction with the selection of candidates in the party’s first list, alleging that leadership ignored dedicated workers over ‘turncoats’, who switched sides from other parties before elections.

As per the news agency KNO, soon after the BJP released a list of 44 candidates, which was later withdrawn, hundreds of Bharatiya Janata Party workers thronged to the party office and reacted sharply.

Party workers have taken up the issue of the ticket being given to former Congress leader Sham Lal Sharma from Jammu North and not to Omi Khajuria, a party leader from the last 40 years.

The violent BJP workers specifically opposed the choice of former Congress leader Sham Lal Sharma for the Jammu North constituency over Omi Khajuria and demanded the ticket be given to Khajuria, threatening to resign otherwise.

The workers said the former Akhnoor MLA hails from the Chamb constituency and if the party wants to give him the mandate, he should be a candidate from Chamb, not Jammu North.

“We have been with the BJP ever since we became the voters. Why are they ignoring those workers who have been with the BJP since the beginning? Omi Khajuria is a known face in Jammu North, but the ticket is being given to a leader who has come from Congress. Sham Lal Sharma has been given a ticket, nobody knows him there. We demand that tickets should be given to Omi Khajuriya, otherwise, we will all resign. Those who have been working with honesty should get the ticket. We have come here to ask about it,” a BJP worker said.

Another leader Jagdish Bhagat, who is head of the party’s J&K SC Morcha, also miffed over mandate to senior police officer Mohan Lal from reserved Akhnoor constituency.

Speaking to the media, Bhagat said, “I have been working all day for BJP for the last 18 years but today injustice has been done to me. SSP Mohan Lal joined BJP two days ago and he has been given a mandate. If this mandate is not hanged, BJP will have to face consequences…”

Responding to the protests, BJP state president Ravinder Raina said that he will be meeting the senior leaders of the party to find a solution to the workers’ grievances. He further urged the protestors to rally in a peaceful manner.

“All the party workers of BJP who have gathered here, I respect them. Every party worker of the BJP is important to us. I will meet each and everyone, I am meeting the senior leaders of the party and having a conversation with them. If any party worker is upset or has an issue, we will sit and find a solution. I request everyone to keep their points in a peaceful manner. I respect every party worker and party leader. I will meet them and find a solution at the earliest,” he said while speaking with the media in Jammu.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday announced its revised first list for the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections featuring 15 candidates for the first phase. In its first list of candidates, the former Congress leader had been chosen for the Jammu North constituency, while his name as well as the constituency was missing from the later released revised list.

Jammu and Kashmir will be voting in three phases on September 18, 25, and October 1, marking the first time elections since the abrogation of Article 370. The counting of votes is scheduled for October 4.