Published On:Tuesday, 28 October 2014
NC, Cong stung by two Sharmas
Jammu: Even days before the stage has been set for the pre-poll campaign for the Assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir two events seem to have gone against the National Conference and the Congress in the state.
Despite claims by some Congressmen saying that Mangat Ram Sharma is a spent political force, he continues to be respected by a large number of people. He holds influence on people in several areas in the region of Jammu. By joining the PDP he could turn the tide against the Congress in the Jammu region.
Another development has been in the shape of resignation of the PHE Minister, Sham Lal Sharma, in protest against anti-Jammu policies being adopted by the National Conference. He has charged the National Conference leadership with sabotaging his (Sharma’s) move to regularize the services of a large number of daily wagers in the region of Jammu. He has alleged that the NC leadership had regularized the services of a large number of daily wagers in the Kashmir valley.
That Sham Lal Sharma has succeeded in regaining the ground that he had lost was evident when a large number of people welcomed him at the Jammu airport where he landed after quitting the cabinet in Srinagar.
Sharma’s resignation is likely to hit hard the National Conference in the region of Jammu and it could lead to weakening of the Congress too because no other congress Minister had resigned while protesting against the raw deal being given to people belonging to the Jammu region.
Field reports say that these two developments may help the BJP and the PDP in the region of Jammu. According to these reports a number of youth Congress leaders were planning to quit the party and join either the BJP or the PDP in the Jammu region. This way political permutation and combination among political activists may assume new dimensions in Jammu and Kashmir.
