 Early Times Report
Jammu, Sept 21: All India Congress Committee chief Mallikarjun Kharge came all the way from Delhi to address an election rally in Chhamb in support of party candidate and former Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand but he skipped the public gathering at Chhamb despite being in Jammu.
Mallikarjun Kharge reached Jammu this afternoon and addressed a press conference to highlight the party’s agenda for the Jammu and Kashmir elections.
After the conclusion of the press conference, it was informed that Kharge would straightway go to Chhamb to address a rally in support of former Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand, who is contesting from the Chhamb assembly segment.
Vehicles were also arranged to take media persons to Kharge’s rally but the Congress president skipped the rally and briefly addressed the meeting through mobile phone.
Although Congress leaders are giving different excuses, many eyebrows were raised because the Congress president was very much present in the city at the time of the rally.
Important to mention here that Satish Sharma, son of two-time Congress Lok Sabha member late Madan Lal Sharma, is contesting elections on the Chhamb Assembly seat as a rebel candidate of the Congress party.
As reported earlier, enraged over the deceitful tactics of After the conclusion of the press conference, it was informed that Kharge would straightway go to Chhamb to address a rally in support of Tara Chand.
Vehicles were also arranged to take media persons to Kharge’s rally but the Congress president skipped the rally and briefly addressed the meeting through mobile phone.
Although Congress leaders gave different excuses, many eyebrows were raised as the Congress president was very much present in the city at the time of the rally.
Satish Sharma, son of two-time Congress MP late Madan Lal Sharma, is contesting elections on the Chhamb Assembly seat as a rebel candidate of the Congress party.
As September 12th was the last day for filing nomination papers, Congress's high command issued a list on the intervening night of September 11 and 12 so that the annoyed leader could not file his nomination papers.
Tara Chand, ex-Deputy Chief Minister and former Speaker of the Legislative Assembly was adamant about contesting elections on the Chhamb Assembly segment which is now opened from the general category.
Tara Chand represented the Chhamb Assembly segment in 1996, 2002, and 2008 but now this segment has been opened for the general category.
Sources said that the party wanted him to shift to the neighbouring Akhnoor Assembly segment reserved for the Scheduled Caste but the former Deputy Chief Minister was adamant about the Chhamb seat.
Once a loyalist of Ghulam Nabi Azad, Tara Chand resigned from the Congress and joined Azad's Democratic Progressive Azad Party in September 2022.
Within three months after joining the party, Tara Chand dumped his political mentor Ghulam Nabi Azad, and returned to the Congress party. | 