Mubashir Aalam Wani
Srinagar, Feb 28: In a first such move by an opposition party in Jammu & Kashmir, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has formed a “shadow cabinet” to keep a close watch on the performance of the National Conference-led government in the Union Territory.
Sources said that BJP has formed a group of senior MLAs to closely examine performance of different departments and question their performance within and outside the Assembly.
“The party has tasked senior MLAs, who served as ministers in the previous PDP-BJP government, to closely monitor departments assigned to them for assembly interventions and other issues,” they said.
According to sources, the leader of opposition Sunil Sharma has played a key role in the formation of the “shadow cabinet”.
Sharma, who is close to the top leadership of BJP, was chosen by the party as its first leader of opposition in Jammu & Kashmir after the party secured 29 seats in 2024 Assembly polls.
Sources privy to the development disclosed that the party has assigned different departments to its senior MLAs to lead the assessment and challenge the ministers holding them within and outside the Assembly.
“This move will enhance the party’s role in scrutinising government actions and policies. It would also help us in effectively raising public issues within and outside the Assembly,” a former BJP minister, who is part of the group, said on condition of anonymity.
The move comes ahead of the budget session of the Assembly, which is expected to be stormy over issues ranging from Article 370, reservation row and other issues.
For the first time in history, the BJP is the main opposition party in Jammu & Kashmir. Before 2008, BJP never crossed a double-digit seat tally in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly. In 2008 polls, it managed to secure 11 seats. In 2014, it secured 25 seats and became part of any government for the first time in J&K’s history.
