The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has declared its candidates for the first phase of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections scheduled to take place on 18 September 2024.
Out of the 24 seats up for election in phase one, the BJP has decided not to contest in eight seats, mostly from south Kashmir. The party now has only 16 candidates for phase one.
In the phase of the elections, there are 16 seats from Kashmir Valley and 8 seats from the Jammu division, according to the ECI schedule.
It’s important to mention that the BJP did not field any candidates for eight constituencies located in south Kashmir.
Among the constituencies is Tral, home to several Hizbul commanders like Burhan Wani, and Zakir Musa, Tral, Pulwama, Zainapora, DH Pora, Kulgam, Devsar, Dooru, and Pahalgam, respectively. The last date for filing nomination papers was August 27.
As per political observers, these seats are mostly in those areas that were badly affected by the recent 2015 militancy surge.
Among those who are contesting in various constituencies where nominations have been filed are Er. Syed Showkat Gayoor Andrabi from Pampore; Arshid Bhat from Rajpora; Jawed Ahmad Qadri from Shopian; and Choudhary Roshan Hussain Gujjar from Kokernag (ST).
Other contenders include Mohd Rafiq Wani (Anantnag West), Adv. Syed Wazahat (Anantnag), and Sofi Yousuf (Srigufwara-Bijbehara), Veer Saraf (Shangus Anantnag East).
In Jammu candidates running are Tariq Keen (Inderwal), Shagun Parihar (Kishtwar), Sunil Sharma (Padder – Nagseni), Daleep Singh Parihar (Bhadarwah), Gajay Singh Rana (Doda), among others, including Shakti Raj Parihar (Doda West), Rakesh Thakur (Ramban), and Salim Bhat (Banihal).
Although there are internal differences among the party leaders over the nominations of some candidates in Jammu, some of whom have either left the party or have decided to contest as an independent candidate.
The same situation prevails with the majority of parties going to polls, like NC, Congress, and PDP.
Some of the senior leaders have shifted their loyalties, while others have rebelled against their parties to contest as independent candidates.
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