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J&K elections: BJP releases 6th list, drops ex-deputy CM
The list comprised five names each from Jammu and Kashmir divisions. With this, the BJP has announced candidates for 59 constituencies for the elections. There are 90 seats in the House but the BJP is contesting on 67 of them.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday released its sixth list of 10 candidates for the Jammu & Kashmir assembly elections, fielding former legislator R S Pathania from Udhampur East and Bandipora district president Naseer Ahmad Lone from his home constituency, as it dropped former deputy chief minister Kavinder Gupta from Bahu seat.
The list comprised five names each from Jammu and Kashmir divisions. With this, the BJP has announced candidates for 59 constituencies for the elections. There are 90 seats in the House but the BJP is contesting on 67 of them.
“The Central Election Committee of the Bharatiya Janata Party has given its approval to the following names for the upcoming Jammu & Kashmir Assembly Elections 2024,” the party announced on X, as it shared the names of the candidates.
According to the latest list, two former legislators will contest the polls. Besides Pathania, Faqir Mohammad Khan has been nominated and he will contest the polls from Gurez Scheduled Tribe (ST) reserved seat.
Abdul Rasheed Khan will contest from Sonawari and Ghulam Mohammad Mir from Handwara.
Former bureaucrat Bharat Bhushan will contest the election from Kathua, doctor-turned politician Rajeev Bhagat from Bishnah and Surinder Bhagat from Marh. These three assembly seats are reserved for the Scheduled Caste (SC).
Former deputy chief minister Gupta was dropped from Gandhi Nagar seat, which was carved into Bahu after the delimitation exercise in 2022. The BJP named Vikram Randhawa as its candidate from Bahu constituency.
In November 2021, the J&K BJP unit removed Randhawa from the post of secretary over his derogatory remarks against Kashmiri Muslims.
HT reached out to Gupta for a comment but did not get one immediately.
Mohammad Idrees Karnahai will contest from Karnah.
The first assembly elections in Jammu & Kashmir in a decade will be held in three phases on September 18 (24 seats) and 25 (26 seats), and October 1 (40 seats). This is also the first assembly polls in the restive region since its special status and statehood were scrapped five years ago and is likely to be the last step before the Union territory’s statehood is restored.
In its poll manifesto, the BJP has announced a string of welfare promises and pledges to augment the restive region’s infrastructure. It focuses on welfare outreach and developmental promises, striking a sharp contrast with pledges made by parties such as the National Conference, which stressed on questions of identity and statehood, such as the restoration of Article 370.
The BJP has its stronghold in the Hindu-majority Jammu which has 43 seats in the assembly. But the party, which has never won an assembly or Lok Sabha seat from Kashmir, has decided to support independent candidates and allies in the Valley. Of the 47 seats in Kashmir, the party plans to contest only 24.
