The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has named senior leaders from its Jammu and Kashmir unit to key positions in the Legislative Assembly.
Surjit Singh Slathia, the BJP vice-president and MLA from Samba, along with Pawan Gupta, MLA from Udhampur West, have been appointed as deputy leaders of the Opposition. Rajiv Jasrotia, the MLA from Ravi Jasrotia, will serve as the party’s chief whip.
These appointments were made by the party’s J&K president, Sat Sharma, in consultation with BJP national president J.P. Nadda, national general secretary (organisation) B.L. Santhosh, and J&K in-charge Tarun Chugh.
Suchetgarh MLA Gharu Ram Bhagat and Jammu East MLA Yudhvir Sethi will serve as party whips. Choudhary Vikram Randhawa, the MLA from Bahu, has been appointed as the party’s secretary.
Arvind Gupta, who represents Jammu West, will be the treasurer. Meanwhile, Chenani MLA Balwant Mankotia and Doda West MLA Shakti Raj Parihar have been given the role of party spokespersons.
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BJP’s Sunil Sharma, who represents Paddar-Nagseni, is the Leader of Opposition. Sharma is considered a firebrand leader of the party.
The BJP is the second largest party in Jammu and Kashmir with 29 MLAs after the National Conference, which has 44 MLAs. The Congress with six MLAs is the third-largest party in the union territory. The NC and the Congress had fought the assembly elections together and formed the government.
The BJP is considered a strong opposition and enjoys the backing of the central leadership.
The BJP won all its seats from the Hindu majority districts of Jammu - Udhampur, Jammu, Samba, Kathua and Reasi. Currently, the party’s strength is 28 in the assembly due to the death of the party’s Nagrota MLA, Devendra Rana.
During the inaugural session of the assembly in November last year in Srinagar, the BJP played the role of a robust opposition. The party forcefully opposed the resolutions by the ruling coalition on the restoration of special status to Jammu and Kashmir.