J&K BJP unit likely to get new president, MP Jugal front runner

Jammu, July 5:  Ahead of the assembly elections, the Jammu and Kashmir unit of the Bhartiya Janata Party will be seeing a major reshuffle in the cadre including the party president.

“The preparations for the assembly elections, which are yet to be officially announced, are in full swing for which the party level deliberations are being held with the high command,” party sources said. They said that a reshuffle in the BJP organisation is also on cards including an appointment of new J&K head.

“Discussions at the top level are in progress with the J&K cadre and various names for different posts are into the pipeline with additional and new responsibilities,” they stated.

Notably, on July 4, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP National President and Union Health Minister, Jagat Prakash Nadda in a party meeting at the national capital have asked the party unit to gear up for the upcoming Assembly elections.

“The names of senior leaders comprising former MLAs, Member Parliaments and ex-J&K BJP heads are included in the list,” sources added and said but, the third time Member Parliament, Jugal Kishore Sharma is the front runner for the post. Jugal from the year 2012 to 2015 remained the BJP president of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.

“Jugal Kishore Sharma, who scored a hat-trick in the Lok Sabha elections, is considered to be the strongest contender for the presidential chair,” sources added and said that as he could not be accommodated in the cabinet of the PM Modi government, will be the first choice for the party to be appointed as new J&K BJP Chief replacing Ravinder Raina, who is continuing as president since 2018.

“In the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, the BJP retained two seats in Jammu and Kashmir, but its vote share significantly decreased,” they said. “Shouldering responsibilities on new faces in Assembly Elections under the guidance of experienced leadership must be given due consideration by the party high command to revive the party in Jammu and Kashmir,” they said.

As per the record, the BJP leaders who remained the J&K presidents are Thakur Baldev Singh (1980- 1989), Prof. Chamanlal Gupta (1989-1994), Vaid Vishnudutt (1994-1996), Dayakrishna Kotwal (1996- 2002), Dr. Nirmal Singh (2002-2006), Ashok Khajuria (2006-2010), Shamsher Singh Manhas (2010-2012), Jugal Kishore Sharma (2012-2015), Sat Sharma (2015-2018) and Ravindra Raina (from 2018 till date).

“This year (2024) is the organizational restructuring year and the election for the post of president was scheduled to be held in 2023 itself, but due to the Lok Sabha elections, the process was delayed. New organisational structure in J&K will soon be constituted and announced by the party high command,” they added.

(CNI)