EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, Feb 13: Bhim Singh has been elected as president of the Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party, days after his nephew Balwant Singh Mankotia resigned from the post. The 79-year-old founder of the party was elected as its president till March 2023, a party release said on Saturday.
"…following resignation of Mankotia, it was unanimously declared that Bhim Singh shall be the president of Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party (JKNPP)," it said.
Mankotia resigned from the post of party president on February 10.
In his message after taking over as president of JKNPP, Singh made an appeal to all, including former legislators who have left the party over the years, to return to its fold for a "united fight for truth and justice, equality and equity for all, irrespective of their religion, region, caste or class".
He said his party is committed for restoration of statehood of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, and its reorganisation so that J-K would also share the "fruits of fundamental rights and democracy as is available to the citizens in the rest of the country".
Meanwhile, JKNPP chairman Harsh Dev Singh accused the BJP of "conspiring to break the opposition".
"The predators of the saffron brigade are resorting to all kinds of nefarious moves to crush dissenting voices. Not only were the opposition leaders lured by the BJP with lucrative offers and promises of better political prospects for abandoning their respective political parties, but coercive methods were also being used to make them fall in line," he claimed. |
