Senior BJP leader Sunil Sharma is known for his sharp barbs, specifically if National Conference (NC) and its leadership are on his radar during any interactions with media. There has hardly been an occasion when he lets an opportunity to go after Abdullahs, Dr Farooq Abdullah and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, go unutilised. This mainly stems from the politics he pursued growing up in Kishtwar from where he was elected MLA for the first time in 2014.
A decade later, he got elected from a newly carved out and far off assembly segment of Padder-Nagseni (Kishtwar district). In 2014, his main opponent was Sajjad Kichloo of the NC and in 2024 assembly elections, it was Pooja Thakur of the same party. Kichloo was considered right hand man of Omar who entrusted a ministerial responsibility to him as Minister of State for Home after 2014 assembly elections.
It was a baptism by fire in 2014 for Sunil Sharma who now leads the 28-member BJP party in the assembly now. It was the Eid clashes in August 2013 that catapulted Sharma into prominence as he fought his way against the establishment then run by Omar and Sajjad. A year later, when the assembly elections happened, Sharma was riding on a Modi wave who had become the Prime Minister some months before that.
On April 12, he was at his rhetorical best as he launched a scathing attack on the ruling NC, accusing it of disrupting the proceedings of the House during the last three days of recently concluded budget session. This was done deliberately to escape facing a resilient BJP which wanted to highlight Omar government’s failures, Sharma said while interacting with reporters in Jammu.
He said: “For the last three days of the budget session, the NC did not allow the Assembly to function. We wanted to raise important issues concerning the people, but they were busy creating chaos and not letting us speak.” Sharma said the BJP-led Central government remains firm in its commitment to J&K ’s holistic development. “All Centrally-sponsored schemes will continue to run without any hurdles. We are ensuring that every section of society benefits from these schemes,” he asserted.
The BJP was committed to ensuring peace and security in the Union Territory, Sharma said, adding: “We will not allow the return of stone-pelting, shutdowns, or violence. The situation has improved significantly. Schools are open, there are no hartals, and normalcy has returned to downtown Srinagar, which once remained shut under previous regimes.”
Taking a swipe at Abdullahs, Sharma said: “They often say 10,000 workers of their party were killed. But these killings happened during the regimes of Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah. Since law and order came under the Union Home Ministry led by Amit Shah, not a single NC worker has been harmed.”
Going a step further, he said: “NC should either acknowledge that they failed to protect the lives of their workers or where they hand in glove with the conspirators.”
Sharma said, “The National Conference and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), instead of invoking the Public Safety Act (PSA) to safeguard innocent lives, chose to let miscreants roam free—resulting in the killing of civilians—all in an attempt to appease separatist forces. In contrast, the BJP-led government acted decisively by putting such elements behind bars and protecting the lives of ordinary people.”
He alleged that the NC leaders were attempting to provoke religious sentiments within the House. “The Assembly is a place for debate and legislation, not for raising religious slogans. Are they trying to create a communal divide?” he questioned.
Referring to past controversies, Sharma reminded, “When the late Mufti Mohammad Sayeed became Chief Minister, he released separatist leader Masrat Alam. It was NC workers who celebrated his release.”
Sharma said that terrorism has been confined to forests and jungles. “There is a difference between terrorism and disruption. Peace has been established and terrorists have been pushed to the hinterland,” he added.
Sharma said that the BJP is committed to restoring and preserving peace. “Today, even the graves of NC leaders are protected by security forces. That speaks volumes about the progress we have made. Business is growing, schools are running, and there is a visible change on the ground.”
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