JAMMU, Oct 16:
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which emerged as the second-largest party in the recent Assembly elections in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), chose to skip the oath-taking ceremony of the newly formed government led by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.
Despite receiving invitation cards from the government as per protocol, none of the newly elected BJP MLAs attended the ceremony held in Srinagar. J&K BJP President Ravinder Raina and Working President Sat Sharma stated that attendance was at the discretion of the MLAs. “It is up to the MLAs whether to go there or not,” they both remarked.
Although some BJP MLAs had indicated they would decide on attendance by Wednesday, ultimately, none of the 29 BJP MLAs participated in the event.
In the recent Assembly elections, the BJP won 29 seats, primarily in the Jammu region, and achieved the highest vote share of 25.64%. The National Conference (NC), the single largest party, secured 23.43%, while Congress garnered 11.97%, and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) received just 8.87%.
During the last phase of the Assembly elections, 24 seats in the Jammu region, including areas like Jammu, Samba, Kathua, and Udhampur, were contested, with the BJP winning 22 out of these 24 seats.
