Anil Sharma urges BJP leadership to avoid ‘political SRO-43’ in Nagrota Bypoll

• BJP high command must adopt fair, transparent approach while selecting candidates 

JAMMU: All Jammu and Kashmir Panchayat Conference president, Anil Sharma, who is also a senior BJP leader, has urged the top leadership of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to refrain from implementing “political SRO-43” while deciding the party’s candidate for the upcoming by-election in the Nagrota Assembly constituency, scheduled for November 11.

As per a pressnote, adressing a press conference here today, Sharma cautioned the BJP’s central leadership that any attempt to apply a “political SRO-43” formula in the selection process would send a wrong message across Jammu and Kashmir. “The party must reconsider its decision—if it has already finalized—regarding the mandate for the Nagrota Assembly seat,” Sharma said. 

“The leadership should objectively assess all aspects of the matter, keeping in view the larger interests of the people of Nagrota, who have remained deeply connected with the BJP. It is time to seriously reflect on whether the mandate should go to someone who joined the party merely six to eight months ago or to a dedicated worker who has been serving the party faithfully for years,” he said. 

Sharma further said, “If the party genuinely wanted to follow this approach, it should have done so earlier when former Jammu East MLA Rajesh Gupta passed away,” Sharma said. 

“Despite his decades-long service to the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), his wife and two daughters were ignored. His wife had been actively working in the BJP’s Mahila Morcha during his tenure, yet the party overlooked his family and the entire Mahajan community at that time.”

Questioning what he termed as the BJP’s “changed criteria,” Sharma remarked, “Does it imply that a leader like Rajesh Gupta, who came from a modest and humble background, did not deserved the party’s recognition? Why is this new policy being applied selectively? Are we now witnessing a trend where individuals who have joined the BJP only six to eight months ago—and happen to be financially well-off—are being rewarded with party mandates?”

The leader further claimed that before the 2024 Assembly elections, former MLA Devender Singh Rana had assured him that his name would be recommended as the BJP candidate from Nagrota in the next election. “He sought our support in the last assembly elections, and we extended it unconditionally,” Sharma said, adding that the leadership must now honour the trust and commitment shown by the grassroots workers.

He urged the BJP high command to adopt a fair and transparent approach while selecting candidates for the Nagrota bypoll, cautioning that favouritism or nepotism would demoralize dedicated party workers and damage the BJP’s image in the region.