The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has issued a revised list of 15 candidates for the upcoming Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections. The updated list focuses solely on the first phase of the elections, which is set to take place on September 18, 2024. This revision follows the withdrawal of an earlier list that included candidates for all three phases of the election.
Revised List Focuses on First Phase
Initially, the BJP had released a list of 44 candidates, covering all phases of the election. However, the party quickly retracted this list and has now released a new one that is specific to the first phase. The decision to focus the list exclusively on the first phase is seen as a strategic move to enhance the party’s chances in key constituencies.
The revised list features seven candidates from the Kashmir Valley and eight from the Jammu region, reflecting the party’s intent to balance its representation across the two regions.
Key Candidates in the Kashmir Valley
The candidates from the Kashmir Valley include:
– Shokwat Gayoor Andrabi (Pampore)
– Arshid Bhat (Rajpora)
– Javed Ahmed Qadri (Shopian)
– Rafiq Wani (Anantnag West)
– Syed Wajahat (Anantnag)
– Sofi Yousuf (Srigufwara)
– Veer Saraf (Shangus)
These candidates have been carefully selected to strengthen the BJP’s presence in the Valley, where the party has been working to expand its influence.
Focus on Jammu Region
The Jammu region will see the following candidates:
– Tariq Keen (Inderwal)
– Shagun Parihar (Kishtwar)
– Sunil Sharma (Padder-Nagseni)
– Daleep Singh Parihar (Bhaderwah)
– Gajay Singh Rana (Doda)
– Shakti Raj Parihar (Doda West)
– Rakesh Thakur (Ramban)
– Salim Bhat (Banihal)
One of the notable names on the list is Shagun Parihar, a new face for the party. Her candidacy carries significant emotional weight, as her father, Ajit Parihar, and uncle, Anil Parihar, were both BJP members who were tragically killed by terrorists in 2018.
Context of the Upcoming Elections
The upcoming assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir are particularly significant as they mark the first elections in the region in nearly a decade. The last assembly election was held in 2014, which led to the formation of a coalition government between the BJP and the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP).
The delimitation process, which was finalized in May 2022, has added six new assembly segments to the Jammu region, increasing the total number of seats to 90. This has altered the political landscape, and the BJP’s revised candidate list reflects its strategy to capitalize on these changes.
The BJP’s focus on carefully selected candidates for the first phase underscores its determination to make significant inroads in both the Kashmir Valley and Jammu regions. With the elections drawing closer, all eyes will be on how these candidates perform and what impact the revised list will have on the overall outcome.
