BJP assigns key responsibilities to J&K leaders denied poll tickets, seeks to quell dissent

SRINAGAR: With ticket distribution for J&K assembly polls sparking a full-blown rebellion in BJP ranks, the party high command on Monday sought to assuage several senior functionaries who failed to make it to the candidate list by assigning them key responsibilities in the party organisation or the campaign committee.
While former J&K BJP chief and ex-minister Sat Sharma has been appointed working president of the party, former deputy chief minister Nirmal Singh will be the campaign committee chairperson.
Sharma, a minister in the BJP-PDP govt, represented Jammu West constituency in the last assembly, but was replaced by Arvind Gupta as the party candidate this time. Singh was the MLA from Billawar in Kathua district, but the party fielded Satish Sharma from the constituency this time.
Sukhnandan Choudhary, also a former minister, has been named vice-president of the campaign committee.
Former deputy chief minister Kavinder Gupta has been appointed as head of the election management committee. He was an aspirant for the party ticket from the Bahu constituency, where the party fielded Vikram Randhawa. Gupta had earlier represented the erstwhile Gandhi Nagar segment, which has now been bifurcated into Bahu and Jammu South.
BJP is largely banking on the Hindu dominated Jammu region to win a majority in the 90-member assembly — 43 seats in Jammu and 47 in Kashmir.