BUNTY MAHAJAN
JAMMU, NOVEMBER 1: BJP was in for an embarrassing situation on Monday when its candidate lost the race to the office of vice chairperson in Gho Manasa Municipal Committee by one vote to Congress despite the fact that it had five councilors in the 7-member urban local body.
Sources said that in the election for post of vice chairperson in Gho Manasa Municipal Committee, Congress’ Ram Pal alias Bittu polled four votes and he was declared elected. BJP’s Manohar Lal got only three votes and lost the race by one vote.
Incidentally, BJP has give elected councilors followed by two of Congress in the 7-member Municipal Committee.
The Municipal Committee chairperson Jatinder Singh did not respond to repeated phone calls by JK POST.
Sources attributed the election of Congress member as vice chairperson in the BJP dominated urban local body to cross voting by two members in view of the factionalism prevailing within the saffron party. This had become evident when some BJP’s members withdrew support to the party member holding office of vice chairperson Krishan Lal in the Municipal Committee forcing him to submit resignation and pave way for holding of fresh election to the post.
Only last year, owing to withdrawal of support by some BJP members in the Municipal Committee, elected chairperson Rajinder Singh Chib had resigned from the post to pave way for the election of his present incumbent to the office, Jitender Singh. In the divided BJP house in the urban local body, the five saffron party members, sources said, had decided to have all of them become chairperson for one year by rotation.
Sources said that BJP in Marh assembly constituency is already divided in two camps, one headed by former minister Choudhary Sukhnandan and another by Abhinav Sharma, former president of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association. It was owing to infighting in the party that its candidate Vandana Kumari had lost the DDC poll in Jammu district’s Marh constituency last year to an independent Balbir Lal by a margin of 3,146 votes.
J&K BJP president Ravinder Raina expressed concern over crossing voting by some party members in the election. A meeting of senior party leaders has been called tomorrow to discuss further course of action and take action in the matter accordingly, he added.
