Amarnath agitation leader to fight polls

Jammu: The convener of the Shri Amarnath Sangarsh Samiti (SASS), which headed protests last year over a controversial piece of land for a Hindu shrine in the Kashmir Valley, Saturday said he was likely to contest Lok Sabha election as a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) nominee.

Leela Karan Sharma, who led the two-month long Amarnath agitation in Jammu last year, told reporters here that he has resigned from the post of the SASS convener.

"I will be contesting the Lok Sabha polls," he said, adding he was in touch with the BJP.

But the BJP is yet to name its candidates for the Lok Sabha polls in the state, which will begin April 6. The five-phase voting for six parliamentary seats in the state ends May 13.

The SASS, a conglomerate of two dozen Hindu groups, led an agitation for the allotment of a 100-acre plot to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board.

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