Reshuffle in J&K BJP: Ex-Deputy CMs Kavinder Gupta, Nirmal Singh appointed election campaign committee heads

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday made some new party appointments in the poll-bound Jammu and Kashmir, as discontent continues to brew within the state. Tensions over the allocation of electoral tickets ahead of the upcoming Assembly polls are continuing to rise.

Now, in response to this, on Monday, BJP National President J.P. Nadda appointed former minister Sat Sharma as the working president of the party's J&K unit.

Nadda has also appointed Nirmal Singh and Kavinder Gupta as the chairperson of the party's J-K election campaign committee, according to a notification issued by BJP national general secretary Arun Singh.

What is important to note here is that all these three leaders have been denied party tickets for this year’s elections.

2014 assembly polls

In the 2014 Assembly polls, Sat Sharma and Nirmal Singh were successfully elected as BJP MLAs from the Jammu West and Billawar constituencies. However, they have now been replaced on the party's candidate list. Arvind Gupta is set to contest from Jammu West, while Satish Sharma will represent the Billawar seat.

The situation deteriorated further for Gupta, a former MLA from the erstwhile Gandhi Nagar constituency. His name did not appear among the candidates for the newly designated Bahu or RS Pura Jammu South constituencies, which were established following the 2022 delimitation process that reshaped the region's electoral landscape.

In Bahu, the BJP has opted to field former MLC Vikram Randhawa, while Professor Narinder Singh Raina has been named for RS Pura Jammu South.

Nadda also appointed Choudhary Sukhnandan, an ex-minister and former Marh constituency MLA, as vice-chairperson of the party’s J&K poll campaign committee. However, Sukhnandan expressed dissatisfaction over the party's decision to nominate Surinder Bhagat for the Marh seat, as he had hoped to see a candidate of his choosing selected.

As the internal conflict escalates over ticket distribution, J&K party general secretary Pawan Khajuria is considering running as an Independent candidate from the Udhampur East constituency after being overlooked in favour of R.S. Pathania.