Many party legislators vying for post
Avtar Bhat
JAMMU, Oct 14: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is likely to elect its Leader of Legislature Party, deputy leader and chief whip after the oath ceremony in Haryana on October 17.
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According to party sources, the newly appointed two election observers for J&K for election of Legislature Party leader of J&K BJP including Union Minister, Prahlad Joshi and party general secretary Incharge J&K and Ladakh UTs, Tarun Chugh will be preoccupied in Haryana on October 17 on the day of oath ceremony.
Sources said the two Central Observers of the party will either reach here in the evening of October 17 or next day morning to convene the meeting of BJP Legislature Party to appoint its leader, deputy leader and chief whip in the Assembly.
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Sources said that BJP is attaching more importance to the LoP which enjoys the status of Cabinet Minister and some senior party legislators are in the race for the post. However the final decision in this regard will be taken in the Legislature party meeting to be held in presence of two Central observers.
Sources said some names among the party legislators are making rounds for the post of LoP. Prominent among them in the race included senior leader and two time MLA from Nagrota, Devender Singh Rana, former Ministers and two time MLAs, Sunil Sharma representing Paddar Assembly segment in Kishtwar district and Dr D K Manyal representing Ramgarh Assembly segment in Samba district besides the newly elected MLA from Jammu South, Dr Narinder Singh.
Dr Manyal who is also general secretary of the party comes from the SC community and his appointment can send a good signal among the reserved categories in J&K, sources said. It may be recalled that for the second time the party has won all the seven reserved seats for SCs in Jammu. Earlier in 2014 the party had also won all Assembly seats reserved for SCs.
Sources said the appointment of Dr Narinder Singh who made his debut in the Assembly this time will also send a good signal among the minority Sikh community in the UT. However, the final decision will be taken in the meeting of Legislature party, sources added.
When contacted, BJP national general secretary, Tarun Chugh told Excelsior that both the Observers will visit Jammu after three to four days and convene the meeting of Legislature Party to appoint the Legislature Party Leader. He, however, did not divulge the names of probable legislators vying for the post and said that the decision in this regard will be taken in the meeting only.
Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir BJP chief, Ravinder Raina felicitated the newly-elected party MLAs here on Monday and said the Leader of Opposition will soon be selected after holding meetings with party leaders under the command of Central Observers.
The Central Observers will convene the meeting and hold discussions on appointment of LoP and submit the report to party high command for final decision.
Led by Raina, several senior BJP leaders, including former Deputy Chief Minister, Dr Nirmal Singh, MP Jugal Kishore, working president of the party’s Jammu and Kashmir unit Sat Pal Sharma and party general secretary (org), Ashok Koul felicitated the MLAs by offering them Chunari and flowers.
“In the coming days, the BJP will hold meetings of leaders and the elected members under Central Observers Prahlad Joshi and Tarun Chugh. The future strategy of the party in Jammu and Kashmir will also be discussed,” Raina told reporters.
Replying to a question on the selection of the LoP, he said the process will be initiated soon.
Raina said the Assembly polls have been held and the President’s rule has been revoked in the Union Territory for the formation of a new Government.
“The BJP performed well in the election. I congratulate all the MLAs,” he added.
Thanking the people of the Union Territory, particularly those from the Jammu region, Raina said, “People voted and supported the BJP enthusiastically in this election, electing 29 MLAs. We secured nearly 26 per cent of the vote share. I thank people for their support,” he added.
Pointing out that this was the BJP’s best poll performance in Jammu and Kashmir in terms of vote share as well as number of seats, he said. “I thank Prime Minister, Narendra Modi and Home Minister, Amit Shah, besides others whose blessings and campaigning helped this happen.”
The BJP bagged 29 seats in the recently-concluded Assembly polls, its highest in Jammu and Kashmir. In 2014, the party had won 25 seats.
The saffron party’s vote share was also the highest among all the parties at 25.5 per cent, followed by the National Conference (23.4 per cent), Congress (11.9 per cent) and People’s Democratic Party (8.8 per cent).
The NC-Congress alliance emerged victorious in the polls. Today’s meeting was attended by all party legislators from Jammu region.
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