AAP to contest J&K Assembly polls with 'full force'; announces UT, provincial level units

AAP will start its election campaign from November 1

The AAP in Jammu and Kashmir on Monday announced the UT and provincial level units of the party and said it will contest the next Assembly polls with “full force” and start its election campaign from November 1.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) also nominated former minister Harsh Dev Singh as the head of State Coordination Committee. Earlier, AAP had declared district and block level units and said the oath ceremony of all the nominated office bearers will be held on October 28 and 29.

Singh, a former chairman of National Panthers Party who joined AAP in May, was named as the chairman of the AAP Jammu and Kashmir State Coordination Committee while District Development Council (DDC) member Mehraj Malik and Ghulam Mustafa Khan will be co-chairmen of the committee, a party spokesman said. He said Jammu and Kashmir State Organisation Building Committee will be headed by in-charge of the UT while senior leader Om Prakash Khajuria and DDC member Malik will be co-chairmen of the committee.

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Nasir Ali Kochak will lead the J&K State Political Strategy and Policy Committee as chairman with S Surender Singh Shengari as co-chairman, whereas Jammu and Kashmir Manifesto Drafting Committee will be headed by S Deep Singh while Farooq Ahmed Aga will be co-chairman of the committee, the spokesman said. He said senior party leader and DDC member T S Tony has been assigned the task of chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Administrative Engagement and Minority Affairs Committee with Sheema Farooqi as co-chairperson.

The spokesman said AAP has also formed the State Media Committee with Nawab Nasir as its chairman, S Jagdeep Singh as co-chairman, whereas Aga has been nominated as chairman of State Grievances Redressal Forum and S K Sharma as co-chairperson. In Jammu and Kashmir SC, ST and OBC Welfare Forum, Yashpal Kundal has been appointed as chairman with retired judge Sikander Azam as co-chairman, whereas Mohammad Ayub Matto to lead Jammu and Kashmir Publicity and Visibility Committee along with Zafarullah Sheikh as co-chairman, the spokesman said.

AAP has also announced the provincial level units with Ghulam Mustafa Khan appointed as Kashmir province president whereas Nazir Ahmed Yatoo, Mohd Amin Dar and Deeba Khan as vice presidents. Similarly, in the Jammu province unit, Shangari is appointed as senior vice president and Farooq Ahmed Banday, Raj Kapoor, Ravi Shastri, Rajesh Padgotra, Amit Kapoor and Subhash Sharma as vice presidents, the spokesman said.

Azam has been appointed as in-charge of Jammu province ST wing while Khatib Hussain is president of the unit. The Jammu province unit of the Kashmiri displaced people wing will be headed by M K Yogi as prabhari (in-charge) and Ashwani Kumar Bhat as president, the spokesman said.

Terming the announcement of all these units as a major step forward, the party's organisation building in-charge in J&K Munish Kaushik said all the units of the party are dynamic in nature with office bearers of different fields who are socially intellectual, politically experienced, energetic, educated and most importantly, have a zeal and enthusiasm to serve the people. “The oath ceremony of all the newly appointed chairpersons will be held in Jammu on October 28 and in Kashmir on October 29,” Kaushik said, adding AAP is now going to contest the next Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir with "full force" and is starting the formal campaigning from November 1.