Early Times Report
JAMMU, May 28: Increasing closeness of Ghulam Nabi Azad with PCC senior vice-president Sham Lal Sharma is not only triggering speculations and new alignments in state unit of the Congress party, but also wariness among their own loyalists.
Sources in Congress circles said that a section of middle rung Congressmen from Jammu, who are among the aspirants for the party mandate in the next Assembly elections, are most worried over their future in the emerging situation even as more there four years are left for the incumbent House to complete its term. While elaborating, sources said that the young aspirants for party mandate, are now in a fix over their further affiliation to the particular camps in the changed scenario and alignments. Except a few Assembly Constituencies, like Gandhi Nagar, Akhnoor, Khour, Billawar, etc, where the particular candidates are understood to be fielded, a similar situation of uncertainty prevails everywhere.
In Jammu East, Jammu West, Vijaypur, Bishnah, Nagrota, Kathua, Udhampur, Sunderbani and others constituencies, where the party has more than one aspirants to be candidates, an uncertainty is prevailing over the loyalties of individuals. Earlier, these aspirants were confident of their respective groups to be supporting them for their projection as party candidate. However, in the changed scenario, new equations may force their own godfathers to disown them.
For example, Azad loyalist Yogesh Sawhney and Sham loyalist Vikram Malhotra are under stood to be most powerful contenders for Jammu East while Advocate Mohinder Bhardwaj and Namrata Sharma (Azad camp) were being projected against Shashi Sharma (Sham loyalist) from Bishnah. Similarly, Arun Sharma the most probable alternate candidate from Vijaypur constituency against Manjit Singh, who belongs to Sharma brothers camp. Almost similar situation prevails in a number of other constituencies.
However, in the wake of increasing closeness of Ghulam Nabi Azad and Sham Lal Sharma, no one among these aspirants is confident of getting support of their respective leader, who may sacrifice their loyalists for broader understanding and accommodating each others, sources explained. But at the same time, no other senior Congress leader from Jammu has the capacity to create a third group and thus these aspirants are left with no option other than to adopt wait and watch policy, sources added. |
