Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory has finally gotten its first elected government, with National Conference Vice President Omar Abdullah becoming the first CM and his colleague from the Jammu region, Surinder Choudhary, becoming his deputy.
Choudhary won the Nowshera assembly seat in Rajouri district and earned the sobriquet "giant killer" for defeating the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state president Ravinder Raina. Political experts regarded this as a "surprising victory" and "shocking defeat" for Raina.
The Jat leader's selection for the post of Deputy CM is viewed by analysts as a "balancing act" by Omar to give "representation" to the Jammu region, where the BJP won 29 seats out of 31 in the Hindu majority districts of Jammu, Udhampur, Samba, and Kathua.
In an exclusive interview with ETV Bharat's Mir Farhat, Choudhary says that the National Conference leadership, including Omar and Farooq Abdullah, has given him a “huge responsibility to shoulder” and placed a burden of kindness on him and his family that he would never be able to return in any manner.
Choudhary began his political career with the NC in 1995, then shifted to the PDP to become a Member of the Legislative Council in 2014. In 2022, he joined the BJP but quit after a year to rejoin NC.
Choudhary says when he first entered politics, he would dream of becoming a minister or a minister of state (MoS), rather than a deputy chief minister.
"Many leaders from the Jammu region in the previous governments were nominated as deputy chief ministers, but this is the first time that the National Conference government made a deputy CM from the Rajouri district,” he said, considering it an "extraordinary achievement" for the people of the Pir Panjal region.
He claims his eyes were moist and his legs shook as his name was called out by LG Manoj Sinha for taking the oath.
"I could not believe that I would be taking oath as deputy chief minister. At the same time, I whispered prayers inside me that I would be able to shoulder this huge responsibility for the people of Jammu and Kashmir and especially from the Jammu region," he says.
Choudhary says that the people of Jammu and Kashmir are not voting on polarising lines, as five legislators have won as NC or independent candidates from Jammu's Hindu-populated areas.
“There is no Hindu-Muslim voter polarisation but a change that alters the political situation. Unfortunately, when BJP candidates win the elections, we start saying that Hindus have voted for BJP only,” he claims. "Is Surinder Choudhary, not a Hindu; is Satish Sharma (independent winner from Chammb constituency) not a Hindu; is Dr Rameshwar Singh (independent winner from Bani constituencies), not a Hindu?”
“This is a narrative peddled by them (the BJP) having no basis. The candidates who won have won because of their hard work and the trust people have in them, and those who lost the elections lost because of less hard work and other factors. Electoral victories should not be attributed to Hindu-Muslim polarisation," he says.
He says that Jammu and Kashmir is a unit where people have always remained united and shown unity despite the former state having a population of all religions and diversity. Choudhary explained this unity by using the metaphorical story that the "lion and goat have drank water together."
The Deputy CM claims that the NC-led government wants to restore the Darbar move (shifting the civil secretariat biannually between Kashmir and Jammu) as per the demand of the people of Jammu. "The practice was started by Maharaja, a Hindu ruler, but the BJP, which claims to be a saviour of Jammu, stopped this practice, which has destroyed Jammu economically. We would like to restore it."
Choudhary says that the NC government and its leadership have a roadmap to give representation to Jammu districts, which have elected 29 BJP legislators. "Our government will be representative of all the people, irrespective of which party the people voted for," he says.
About the restoration of Article 370, Choudhary says that the restoration of the statehood has been promised by the Home Minister (Amit Shah) in the Parliament. "The time is now for restoring statehood to Jammu and Kashmir as people have voted in record numbers and also restore the rights of land and jobs exclusively for the residents of Jammu and Kashmir," he says.
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