BJP Releases First List of 44 Candidates for J&K Assembly Elections

On Monday, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) unveiled its first list of 44 candidates for the upcoming assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir. Notable candidates include Syed Wazahat from Anantnag, Kuldeep Raj Dubey from Reasi, and Gajay Singh Rana from Doda. Arshid Bhat will run from Rajpora, while Sushri Shagun Parihar is set to contest from Kishtwar. Pawan Gupta will contest in Udhampur West, Dr. Devinder Kumar Maniyal in Ramgarh (SC), and Mohan Lal Bhagat in Akhnoor. Rohit Dubey will compete in Shri Mata Vaishno Devi, and Chowdhary Abdul Ghani in Poonch Haveli.

The list was announced following a meeting of the BJP Central Election Committee chaired by JP Nadda, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah also in attendance.

Polling in Jammu and Kashmir is scheduled to occur in three phases on September 18, 25, and October 1, with vote counting slated for October 4, as per the Election Commission of India. The region has a total of 90 assembly constituencies, including 7 reserved for SCs and 9 for STs. The electorate in Jammu and Kashmir totals 88.06 lakh.

In the previous assembly elections, the PDP secured 28 seats, BJP won 25, Jammu and Kashmir National Conference took 15, and Congress won 12 seats. The PDP and BJP formed a coalition government under Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, but the BJP withdrew support in 2018 after Mehbooba Mufti succeeded Sayeed following his death.

These upcoming elections will be the first in Jammu and Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370.