SRINAGAR: In a first-of-its-kind 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 (NC)-led government in the Union Territory.
Sources said that the BJP has created a group of senior MLAs to closely examine the performance of different departments and to question their functioning both inside 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, Leader of the Opposition Sunil Sharma has played a key role in the formation of the “shadow cabinet”.
Sharma, who is close to the top BJP leadership, was chosen by the party as its first Leader of the Opposition in Jammu & Kashmir after the BJP secured 29 seats in the 2024 Assembly elections.
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, both inside 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, with debates over Article 370, the reservation row, and other issues.
For the first time in history, the BJP is the main opposition party in Jammu & Kashmir. Before 2008, the BJP had never crossed a double-digit seat tally in the J&K Assembly. In the 2008 elections, it secured 11 seats. In 2014, it won 25 seats and, for the first time, became part of a government in J&K’s history. (KNO)
