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Journalism of Courage
THE OTHER Hindu face in the Omar Abdullah-led Cabinet that was sworn in on Wednesday is Satish Sharma, a Congress rebel and an Independent MLA from Chhamb.
Sharma won by defeating not just the BJP’s Rajeev Sharma – who had won the seat in 2014 – by 6,929 votes, but also pushing Congress J&K working president and former deputy chief minister Tara Chand to the third post.
This made it a huge win for Sharma as Tara Chand is the Congress’s Dalit face in the UT, and has been a three-term MLA from Chhamb.
Sharma also comes from pedigree, being the son of late Congress leader Madan Lal Sharma, who had been a two-term MP from the Jammu-Poonch constituency (2004 to 2014) and a three-term MLA (from Chhamb, 1983 to 1987, and Akhnoor, 2002-2004).
Satish Sharma’s uncle Sham Lal Sharma is a BJP MLA from Jammu North.
Incidentally, Madan Lal Sharma had supported Tara Chand for the Congress ticket from Chhamb in 1996, when the constituency got reserved for Scheduled Castes.
Following the 2022 delimitation of J&K Assembly constituencies, Akhnoor had become SC-reserved while Chhamb became open to all after nearly three decades. Satish Sharma then sought the Congress ticket from Chhamb, but the Congress ignored his claims and re-fielded Tara Chand.
Congress sources admitted that had the Congress given the SC-reserved Akhnoor ticket to Tara Chand and fielded Sharma from Chhamb, it could have won both the seats.
