 Early Times Report
Jammu, Dec 23: Former Deputy Chief Minister and working president of the Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC), Tara Chand, was notably absent from a function organized by the Congress party’s district committee to mark the fourth death anniversary of former minister and two-time Lok Sabha MP, Madan Lal Sharma.
The commemoration, held at the Congress party headquarters on Monday, highlighted Sharma's contributions to strengthening the party in Jammu and Kashmir, particularly in the Jammu province. Senior leaders, including both working presidents, were invited to the event. While Raman Bhalla, one of the working presidents, attended to pay his respects, Tara Chand’s absence was conspicuous.
Sources within the party pointed out the significance of the relationship between Sharma and Tara Chand. It was Sharma who introduced Tara Chand to politics and played a pivotal role in ensuring his first electoral victory as MLA from the Chhamb Assembly segment in 1996.
Tara Chand’s political career has seen its share of challenges. In the 2024 Assembly elections, he was defeated by Satish Sharma, a Cabinet Minister in Omar Abdullah’s government, who contested as an Independent candidate after being denied a Congress ticket. Tara Chand finished third in the race for the Chhamb seat. Satish Sharma is the son of the late Madan Lal Sharma.
The absence of Tara Chand from the memorial event has fueled speculation within political circles about internal dynamics and possible reasons for his no-show at a function honoring his mentor.
Meanwhile, according to an official handout issued by the party, rich tributes were paid to late Madan Lal Sharma on his 4th death anniversary, today at PCC HQ Shaheedi Chowk, Jammu.
Working President Raman Bhalla chaired the meeting which was attended by senior leaders of PCC, DCC and frontal wings of the party.
Floral tributes were paid to the veteran leader in the meeting and the senior leaders remembered his contributions in different capacities to the party and the people during his public life spread over to around five decades. He was a humble personality and always remained associated with the people at the grass root levels especially poor and the downtrodden
They described him as a great leader of the party who was liked by one and all because of his humbleness and qualities of leadership. He saw many ups and downs in his public life but remained a determined soldier of the people and the party.
Prominent among those who paid tributes include S/Shri Ravinder Sharma, Yogesh Sawhney, Ved ahajan, Th. Manmohan Singh, Arvinder Singh Micky, Nizam-ud-din Bhat (MLA Bandipora), Shashi Sharma, Suresh Dogra, Shiv Kumar Sharma, Vijay Sharma, Vijay Shastri, A.P. Singh Lucky, Rajesh Sharma, Dr. R.K. Khajuria, Rajeev Saraf, Sandeep Dogra, Praveen Singh, Bimla Slathia , Th. Hoshiyar Singh, Anuradha Sharma, Rashida Begum, Bharat Bhushan, Ranjeet Singh Manhas, Sat Paul Sapolia, Ram Prakash Magotra, Jugal Sharma, Anuradh Rakesh Sharma, Manjeet Singh Bedi, Raj Kumar Sodi, Ranjit Chopra, Narinder Sharma(Happy) and others. |
