BJP Announces and Then Withdraws First List of Candidates for J&K Polls

Photo : PTI

Srinagar: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) released its first list of 44 candidates for the upcoming three-phase Assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir. However, the list was promptly withdrawn. BJP sources indicate that a revised list will be issued soon.

The initial list, which was made public this morning, notably omitted key figures such as Jammu and Kashmir BJP President Ravinder Raina, and former Deputy Chief Ministers Nirmal Singh and Kavinder Gupta. In contrast, the list included Devendra Rana, the brother of Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh, who recently defected from the National Conference to the BJP.

The list featured 14 Muslim candidates and two Kashmiri Pandits. It also included several former leaders from the Congress, National Conference, PDP, and Panthers Party who have recently joined the BJP.

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The election in Jammu and Kashmir will be held in three phases: September 19, September 25, and October 1, with votes being counted on October 4. This will be the first Assembly election in the region since its special status was revoked in 2019 and it was reconstituted into two Union Territories.

The list was finalized by the BJP's Central Election Committee, with key party leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and BJP President JP Nadda, participating in the decision-making meeting in Delhi yesterday.

The last Assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir was held in 2014. In that election, the BJP secured 25 seats, while the PDP emerged as the largest party with 28 seats. The National Conference won 15 seats, and Congress secured 12. The BJP then formed a coalition government with the PDP, led initially by Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and later by Mehbooba Mufti following Sayeed’s death in 2016.

This year's elections are anticipated to be a contest among the BJP, the PDP, and an alliance between the National Conference and Congress. However, the Congress and National Conference are still negotiating seat-sharing arrangements. Senior Congress leaders KC Venugopal and Salman Khurshid have been dispatched to Srinagar to resolve differences between the National Conference and local Congress leaders. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi have previously met with National Conference leaders Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah to formalize their alliance.

In response to the alliance, BJP General Secretary Tarun Chugh, who is overseeing the party’s campaign in Jammu and Kashmir, criticized the Congress-National Conference partnership, predicting that it would collapse and result in a significant defeat.