By Agencies
JAMMU, Sept 27: The time has come for Jammu and Kashmir to have its first Dogra Hindu Chief Minister and it can be done only by the BJP, said Sham Lal Sharma, the party’s candidate from the Jammu North assembly segment.
He termed the Congress, National Conference and PDP “power-hungry” and alleged that they have a history of betraying the people of Jammu with their “wrong policies”.
Intensifying his voter outreach programme through door-to-door campaigns, corner meetings and public rallies, and by raising the “Hindu chief minister” slogan, Sharma on Friday claimed there was a strong wave of support for the BJP across Jammu and Kashmir, especially in the Jammu region.
“The time is ripe to have a Dogra Hindu Chief Minister from Jammu for the first time in the history of Jammu and Kashmir. The people of Jammu have made up their minds to give a clear verdict to the BJP,” the former minister said at a public meeting in the Domana area here.
“People should vote for the BJP so that a Dogra chief minister takes over as the next chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir.”
Sham Lal Sharma, the younger brother of two-time Congress MP Madan Lal Sharma, has been pitted against National Conference candidate and former minister Ajay Sadhotra in the Jammu North seat.
He was an MLA from Akhnoor and a cabinet minister in the NC-Congress government in 2008. He lost the seat to the BJP’s Rajeev Sharma in 2014 when the BJP secured 25 Assembly seats from the Jammu region.
At the public meeting in Domana, Sham Lal Sharma, said, “There is a strong wave of support for the BJP across Jammu and Kashmir, especially in the Jammu region. The jubilant mood of the people clearly indicates that the BJP is sweeping the region and will form a government led by a Dogra Hindu Chief Minister.”
He emphasized that this has been a long-cherished dream for the people of Jammu, and “now is the right time to fulfil this dream”.
Hitting out at the Congress, NC and PDP, the BJP candidate from the Jammu North seat said, “These three parties discriminated against Jammu in all fields and deprived the people here of basic rights and development.”
“The Kashmiri leadership treated the people of Jammu like second-class citizens for too long,” he alleged.
Sharma held Congress and NC responsible for the rise in militancy in Jammu and Kashmir and said, “Due to their poor governance and anti-people policies, militancy took root, resulting in the deaths of thousands over the last three decades.”
“Their policies gave birth to separatism and lawlessness.”
Sharma also said that there has been a major shift in the political landscape of Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution in 2019.
“The domination of Valley-based politics is no longer acceptable. The people of Jammu have suffered for decades without proper infrastructure for education, healthcare, roads, power, and tourism. It is time to rewrite history by electing a Chief Minister from Jammu,” he asserted.
He warned voters that if Congress and NC were allowed to return to power, “they will bring back the era of gun culture, stone-pelting, bomb blasts, and curfews. The BJP will not allow Jammu and Kashmir to return to those dark days, no matter the cost.”
Sharma urged the people to “reject Congress, NC, and PDP in this election” and support the BJP in its mission to restore peace, foster holistic development and strengthen grassroots democracy.