Devender Singh Rana, Sunil Sharma lead race for LoP; BJP may get Deputy Speaker’s post

Two senior BJP leaders and recently elected MLAs are the frontrunners for the position of Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly.

Devender Singh Rana, who has been elected MLA from Nagrota constituency and Sunil Sharma elected from Padder-Nagseni seat are vying for the post of LoP. The BJP had won 29 seats in the recently concluded Assembly polls and dominated in Jammu region.

The BJP is also making preparations to select the Deputy Speaker as the National Conference is likely to offer the post to the saffron party. Lt Governor Manoj Sinha has already summoned a session of the legislative assembly in Srinagar on November 4. Name of BJP MLA Narinder Singh Raina, who defeated Congress working president Raman Bhalla from RS Pura- Jammu South seat, is doing the rounds for the post of Deputy Speaker.

The BJP Parliamentary Board has appointed Union Minister Pralhad Joshi and BJP’s national general secretary Tarun Chugh as central observers for the election of the legislative party leader for J&K. A meeting in this regard was expected last week. However, sources said the meeting will probably take place in the coming days.

Devender Singh Rana is a senior leader who got overwhelming support from different communities in his constituency. He won with the highest margin of over 30,000 votes from Nagrota seat, from where he was elected even in 2014. Rana had left the National Conference in 2021 and joined BJP after which the NC struggled to fill the vacuum left with his exit.

On the other hand, Sunil Sharma is a former minister who won from Kishtwar in 2014. After the change in his constituency this time to Padder-Nagseni in Kishtwar district, many feared that he may not be able to register a win from the area, which has a substantial Muslim population. However, negating the forecast, Sharma was able to emerge victorious.

With Rana coming from Rajput community and Sharma from Brahmin community, caste is also likely to play an important role in the selection of the Leader of Opposition.

The BJP was able to win highest number of seats in Jammu and Kashmir this time. The party won even in some areas with substantial Muslim population. But it was not able to open its account in the Kashmir region.