The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) announced its initial roster of 44 candidates for the upcoming Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir.
This slate features eight candidates from Kashmir and 36 from the Jammu region. The candidates are distributed across all three election phases: 15 for the first phase, 10 for the second phase, and 19 for the final phase. Additional names will be released at a later date.
In the Kashmir Valley, the BJP has selected Ashok Bhat, a local Kashmiri Pandit, to contest the Habba Kadal constituency in Srinagar. This choice is noteworthy as the Kashmiri Pandit vote could significantly influence the outcome in this constituency, which was historically held by the community.
The party has also nominated Syed Showkat Gayoor Abdrabi for Pampore, Arshid Bhat for Rajpora, Javed Ahmad Qadri for Shopian, Mohd Rafiq Wani for Anantnag West, advocate Syed Wazahat for Anantnag, Sofi Yousuf for Srigufwara-Bijbehara, and Veer Saraf for Shangus-Anantnag East.
In the Jammu division, notable BJP candidates include Devender Singh Rana, who will contest the Nagrota seat. Rana has previously secured victories from this constituency twice. Other key figures include Surjit Singh Salathia for Samba, Pawan Gupta for Udhampur West, and Balwant Singh Mankotia for Chennai. Salathia has also been a past victor in Samba.
Additional candidates from Jammu include Sunil Bhardhwaj for the SC reserved seat of Ramnagar, Jeevan Lal for Bani, Satish Sharma for Billawar, Darshan Singh for Basohli, Rajiv Jasrotia for Jasrota, and Vijay Kumar Sharma for Hiranagar. Devinder Kumar Maniyal is set to contest from Ramgarh (SC), former Minister and MLA Chander Prakash Ganga from Vijaypur, Gharu Ram Bhagat from Suchetgarh (SC), Narinder Singh Raina from R.S. Pura-Jammu South, Yudhvir Sethi from Jammu East, Arvind Singh from Jammu West, Sham Lal Sharma from Jammu North, Mohan Lal Bhagat from Akhnoor (SC), and Rajeev Sharma from Chamba.
The list also includes Mohammad Akram Choudhary for Gulabgarh (ST), Kuldeep Raj Dubey for Reasi, and Rohit Dubey for the Mata Vaishno Devi seat. Chowdhary Zulfikar Ali, a recent BJP member, will run from Budhal (ST), and Mohammad Iqbal Malik will contest from Thanamandi (ST).
Thakur Randhir Singh will represent the party in Kalakote-Sunderbani, Syed Mushtaq Ahmad Bukhari in Surankote, Chowdhary Abdul Gani in Poonch Haveli, and Murtaza Khan in Mendhar (ST).
In the Chenab Valley, the BJP is fielding candidates in Banihal, Ramban, Inderwal, Doda, Bhaderwah, Kishtwar, Paddar-Nagseni, and Doda West. In the 2014 Assembly elections, the party won all 18 seats in the Jammu division. Despite fresh competition from Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party in the region, the BJP remains a strong contender for all 36 seats in Jammu.
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