BJP releases list of 44 candidates for J&K Assembly polls

The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) has released its first list of 44 candidates for all three phases of the upcoming Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections. The party has fielded 15 candidates for the first phase (September 18), 10 candidates for the second phase (September 25), and 19 candidates for the third phase (October 1), ensuring strong representation across the electoral process.

Among the 14 Muslims who have received tickets, eight are from Muslim-majority seats in Jammu, indicating the party's strategy to make inroads into these constituencies.

Additionally, two Kashmiri Pandits have been nominated from the Kashmir Valley: Vir Saraf from Anantnag East-Shangus and Ashok Bhat from Habbakadal, marking a significant outreach to the Pandit community.

The party has also fielded only one woman candidate, Shagun Parihar, who will contest from Kishtwar. Moreover, four Dalit candidates have been given tickets from the four SC reserved seats.

However, the list has raised eyebrows due to the omission of several prominent figures. Notably, Dr. Nirmal Singh has been dropped from the Billawar seat, and Sat Sharma has been removed from the Jammu West seat.

Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections are scheduled to be held in three phases from September 18 to October 1. The results will be declared on October 4.

Here's the full list of BJP candidates fielded for Jammu and Kashmir

First phase

• Er. Syed Showkat Gayoor Andrabi from Pampore

• Mohd. Rafiq Wani from Anantnag West

• Arshid Bhat from Rajpora

• Javed Ahmad Qadri from Shopian

• Adv. Syed Wazahat from Anantnag

• Srigufwara–Bijbehara from Sofi Yousuf

• Veer Saraf from Shangus–Anantnag East

• Tariq Keen from Inderwal

• Shagun PariharKishtwar

• Sunil Sharma from Padder–Nagseni

• Daleep Singh Parihar from Bhadarwah

• Gajay Singh Rana from Doda

• Shakti Raj Parihar from Doda West

• Rakesh Thakur from Ramban

• Salim Bhat from Banihal

Second phase

• Habbakadal- Ashok Bhat

• Gulabgarh (ST)- Mohammad Akram Chaudhary

• Reasi- Kuldeep Raj Dubey

• Shri Mata Vaishno Devi- Rohit Dubey

• Kalakote–Sunderbani- Thakur Randhir Singh

• Budhal (ST)- Chowdhary Zulfikar Ali

• Thannamandi (ST)- Mohd. Iqbal Malik

• Surankote (ST)- Syed Mushtaq Ahmad Bukhari

• Poonch Haveli- Chowdhary Abdul Ghani

• Mendhar (ST)- Murtaza Khan

Third Phase

• Udhampur West-Pawan Gupta

• Chenani- Balwant Singh Mankotia

• Ramnagar (SC)- Sunil Bhardwaj

• Bani- Jeevan Lal

• Billawar- Satish Sharma

• Basohli- Darshan Singh

• Jasrota- Rajiv Jasrotia

• Hiranagar- Adv. Vijay Kumar Sharma

• Ramgarh (SC)- Dr. Devinder Kumar Maniyal

• Samba- Surjit Singh Slathia

• Vijaypur- Chandra Prakash Ganga

• Suchetgarh (SC)- Gharu Ram Bhagat

• R.S. Pura–Jammu South- Dr. Narinder Singh Raina

• Jammu East- Yudhvir Sethi

• Nagrota- Dr. Devinder Singh Rana

• Jammu West- Arvind Gupta

• Jammu NorthSham Lal Sharma

• Akhnoor (SC)- Mohan Lal Bhagat

• Chhamb- Rajeev Sharma

Source: India Today