PCC gen secy, 11 Cong councillors resign
Shariq Majeed
Tribune News Service

Rajouri, November 24
In a setback to the Congress party ahead of the Poonch-Haveli by- election general-secretary of the Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) and a frontrunner for the Congress mandate from this constituency Yashpal Sharma resigned from the party on Friday in protest against decision to nominate Jahangir Mir to contest the election.

Sharma will now contest as an independent and filed his nomination papers saying that “The party high command ditched me”.

Not only this 11 Congress party councillors in the Poonch Municipal Committee, also resigned from the party in support of Sharma, in protest against indifferent attitude of the party high command.

The party has fielded Jahangir Mir for Poonch byelecton and he filed his nomination papers for the election on Thursday. The Poonch Assembly constituency will go to polls on December 12.

Sharma told The Tribune over telephone from Poonch, after filing his nomination papers, the party deceived him by not fielding him. “I am a winning candidate from this seat since I secured 27,631 votes in 2002 elections and lost by just 341 votes from Ghulam Muhammd Jan of the National Conference. Even they (party high command leaders) know I will win this seat, but despite this they denied me ticket”, claimed Sharma.

After filing nomination papers as an independent Sharma also addressed a rally organised by his supporters and exhorted them to work for his victory and give befitting reply to the Congress functionaries, who played major role for making party high command give ticket to the other aspirant.

Observers said the decision of Sharma to fight the election as an independent might tilt the balance towards National Conference candidate Aijaz Jan, who was trying to retain the seat after it fell vacant following his father Ghulam Muhammad Jan’s death.