| After BJP, Congress promises Hindu CM from Jammu | | Assembly polls | | Early Times Report
JAMMU, July 3: No one can claim when assembly elections would take place in J&K, but the BJP and the Congress have started convincing the people of Jammu province in general and Hindus in particular, that they are with them; they alone appreciate their feelings, needs, urges and aspirations. The purpose of both the BJP and the Congress is to make sure that they win a majority of seats from the Jammu province, which is predominantly Hindu majority.
Last week, it was J&K BJP chief Ravinder Raina, who promised Hindu Chief Minister from Jammu. He was categorical. "This time the CM will be from Jammu and he will be a Hindu; the dream will come true," Ravinder Raina had stated.
And on July 2, it was the Congress which came out with Hindu-CM-from-Jammu promise subject to the condition that the Congress would give a Hindu CM provided it won maximum number of seats from Jammu province. Jammu province elects 37 members to the 87-member assembly.
It was none other than the chief spokesperson of the JKPCC Ravinder Sharma who held out a commitment to the effect that the Congress would make Jammu Hindu CM of the state. Ravinder Sharma made this significant statement while talking to national news channel.
Significantly, both the Ravinders hail from the same constituency, Nowshera in Rajouri district.
"The Congress has now promised that if it gets a majority of seats in Jammu in the upcoming assembly elections, then the party will appoint a chief minister from the Jammu region," a report quoting Ravinder Sharma said.
"His party believes in equitable development of all three regions of the state and if people of Jammu give mandate to the grand old party in the assembly elections then they can even install a chief minister from the Jammu region," Ravinder Sharma was quoted as saying. He further reportedly said that the "Congress will appoint a Hindu CM", "that may also happen if a majority of their MLAs are elected from Jammu", and that "the party high command will respect the mandate of the people and will decide accordingly".
The statements of Ravinder Sharma came just a day after J&K Congress leaders met with AICC president, Rahul Gandhi, in Delhi.
In 2014, the BJP had won 25 out of 37 assembly seats from Jammu province and the Congress had won only 4. It had for the first time that not even one Hindu candidate fielded by the Congress. The Congress had also performed very badly both in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections Jammu and Ladakh, despite the fact that the NC had extended support to the Congress candidates in Jammu and Ladakh. Even the support extended to the Congress by the PDP failed to help the Congress turn tables on the BJP, which won Jammu and Ladakh in 2014 and 2019.
The Hindu-CM-from-Jammu promise held out by the Congress could be viewed in the context of its "very poor" performance in Jammu province. After all, the Congress enjoyed power for years in alliance with the NC and the PDP with the support of Jammu. |
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