4 Independents help Omar’s NC sail past halfway mark and solve its Jammu issue; all eyes now on Congress letter of support

The NC is awaiting a letter of support from the Congress to stake claim to form the next government in Jammu & Kashmir.

“The legislative party met today and I thank the legislators for reposing their faith in me. They have given me the chance to go to Raj Bhawan and stake claim to form the next government,” Omar said after the meeting.

The NC vice-president added that talks are on with the Congress to get their letter of support: “We will go to the L-G as soon as we have the letter from Congress.”

The four MLAs that have extended support to the NC are Pyare Lal Sharma, elected from Inderwal; Satish Sharma from Chhamb; Chaudhary Mahammed Akram from Surankote; and Rameshwar Singh from Bani – all from the Jammu province.

For the NC, this addresses concerns of representation of Jammu in their government since the majority of seats in Jammu – 29 of 43 – voted for the BJP.

Pertinently, all four seats where the independents secured victory was at the Congress’s expense.

Pyare Lal Sharma is an NC rebel who contested as an independent following the seat sharing agreement between NC and Congress. The Congress candidate from the seat, Mohammad Zafarullah, finished third in the constituency.

Chhamb MLA Satish Sharma is a Congress rebel. He is the son of Congress leader late Madan Lal Sharma, a two-time MP from Jammu-Poonch parliamentary constituency from 2004 to 2014, and also an elected MLA from Chhamb as well as Akhnoor.

Chaudhary Akram is the son of another veteran Congress leader who joined the NC just before the polls. But after the seat was allocated to the Congress in the alliance, Akram fought as an independent and defeated the Congress candidate by over 8,000 votes.