Jammu, Jan 24 (KNO): Former minister Sat Pal Sharma was on Friday elected unopposed as the president of the Jammu and Kashmir unit of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the term 2024-2027. This would be his second term as the party’s Jammu and Kashmir chief.
Sharma was elected after the comprehensive exercise involving the election processes from Booth, Mandal and District Presidents, who eventually voted in the State President’s election along with other eligible voters.
As per the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), he was elected unanimously after the final scrutiny of papers submitted for the post.
Sat Sharma has earlier served as the President of the party from 2016-2018, till he was inducted as the Cabinet Minister in the coalition government of Jammu & Kashmir.
During the Assembly elections 2024, Sat Sharma was nominated as the working president of the party and later was nominated as the President of the J&K BJP. Now, Sat Sharma has been formally elected as the State President of J&K BJP after the comprehensive organizational elections under the ‘Sangathan Parv’.
Sanjay Bhatia, Returning Officer (RO) for State President’s election in presence of Saudan Singh, BJP National Vice-President and Shrikant Sharma, Observer for the organizational elections under the ongoing “Sangathan Parv” of the party at the national level declared the result after the scrutiny of the papers submitted by Sat Sharma.
Moreover, former minister Ch. Zulfikar Ali from Rajouri, Kuldeep Raj from Hiranagar, Rajni Sethi from Jammu, Anwar Khan from Baramulla, Sunita Raina from Srinagar, Gopal Gupta (Mahajan) from Kathua, Rajinder Gupta from Rajouri and Arif Raja from Srinagar were elected as the 8 National Council members.
Sharma, who was nominated as President of the Jammu and Kashmir unit of the party in November last year, filed his nomination papers for the president’s post on Thursday as part of organisational elections under the ongoing “Sangathan Parv” of the party at the national level.
He was the sole candidate to file the papers for the post before national returning officer Sanjay Bhatia, a former MP from Haryana appointed by the party high command to conduct elections in Jammu and Kashmir.
Flanked by Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh, Leader of Opposition in J-K Assembly Sunil Sharma, National Observer Shrikant Sharma, the party’s General Secretary Organisation Ashok Kaul and other senior leaders, BJP National Vice President Saudan Singh honoured him with a headgear and a garland.
Speaking on the occasion, Sharma called upon workers to support him in strengthening the party in the Union Territory.
“I thank the entire leadership from the centre to the grass root workers for providing me with another opportunity and posing trust in me to lead the party in Jammu and Kashmir,” Sharma said after assuming the party chief’s role here.
He sought the support of party workers in further strengthening the organisation. “Together, we can make this party stronger in Jammu and Kashmir. We achieved the highest vote share in the recent assembly election. I seek your support to elevate this organisation to new heights and ensure service to the people of J-K,” he said.
In November last year, the BJP high command appointed him as the head of the party’s Union Territory unit.
Sharma, 63, was denied a party ticket in the recent assembly election. He was appointed as the working president of the party in September amid resentment over ticket distribution and later elevated to the post of president, replacing the party’s longest-serving J-K unit president Ravinder Raina.
Raina, who had succeeded Sharma in May 2018 and held the post for six-and-a-half years, has been made a member of the party’s national executive.
Born into a Dogra Brahmin family in Jammu, Sharma, Chartered Accountant by profession, won from the Jammu West Assembly constituency on a BJP ticket for the first time in 2014. He also served as a Cabinet minister for 40 days in the PDP-BJP government, which collapsed in 2018 after the saffron party withdrew its support. Sharma held this post for two-and-a-half years between 2016 and 2018.
“I congratulate Sharma ji on his election to the post of president,” Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh said.
He said, “Under Sharma’s leadership, BJP workers will unleash their full potential to contribute to the growth of the country, and people will credit the party workers of J-K for their contributions to the country’s development.”—(KNO)