Early Times Report
Jammu, Sept 18: Some Independents emerging strong contenders in their respective assembly segments have added worries for their mainstream parties as these Independents are giving tough fights to their official candidates.
While some Independents are rebels of the mainstream parties, some of them are contesting elections independently.
Over half a dozen Independent candidates are emerging as strong contenders in their respective constituencies in Jammu province.
In the prestigious Chhamb assembly segment of Jammu district where Congress stalwart and former Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand is contesting elections against BJP’s Rajiv Sharma. Rebel candidates of both parties have added woes for the national parties.
Satish Sharma, son of two-time Lok Sabha member Madan Lal Sharma, is in the fray as a rebel candidate of the Congress party. Narendra Singh Bhau is BJP’s rebel candidate in the same constituency.
Bhau and Satish Sharma have added worries for both the official candidates of B Some Independents are emerging strong contenders in their respective assembly segments.
These Independents are giving tough fights to official candidates of the mainstream parties.
Rebel candidates of BJP and Congress have made the contest difficult for the national parties.
In the Udhampur East Assembly segment, Pawan Khajuria, a rebel BJP candidate, has intensified his campaign against official party candidate R S Pathania. The fight on this seat is gradually turning into a direct contest between Pathania and Khajuria as the National Conference on this seat has yet to pick up his campaign.
Suraj Singh Parihar, BJP’s rebel candidate in the Ramban Assembly segment has already created a lot of trouble for the party’s official candidate Rakesh Thakur.
In the Inderwal Assembly segment, former minister Ghulam Mohammad Saroori has emerged as a strong contender. Despite being vice president of the Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) of Ghulam Nabi Azad, he has joined the electoral battle as an Independent candidate.
In the newly carved Mata Vaishno Devi Assembly constituency, Independent candidate Jugal Kishore Sharma, who is also one of the founding members of the DPAP, is giving a tough fight to the candidates of BJP and Congress. | 