BJP releases first list of 44 candidates for J&K Assembly elections

List includes eight from Kashmir and 36 from Jammu division; names are for all three phases — 15 for first phase, 10 for second phase and 19 for last phase

Srinagar: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday issued its first list of 44 candidates for the Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir.

The list includes eight candidates from Kashmir and 36 from the Jammu division. The 44 names are for all three phases — 15 for the first phase, 10 for the second phase and 19 for the last phase.

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The rest of the names will be declared later. For the Valley, BJP has nominated Ashok Bhat, a local Kashmiri Pandit for the Habba Kadal constituency in Srinagar district.

The nomination of a candidate from the community which once dominated the Habba Kadal seat in the Valley is interesting since the vote of the migrant Kashmiri Pandits is likely to decide the fate of the winner in this Assembly constituency of the Valley.

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, Veer Saraf for Shangus-Anantnag East have been nominated.

Among the prominent BJP leaders nominated for seats in the Jammu division is Devender Singh Rana for the Nagrota Assembly seat. Rana has in the past won elections from the Nagrota Assembly constituency twice. Among other BJP leaders, Surjit Singh Salathia will fight election for the party from the Samba Assembly seat.

Salathia has won elections from here in the past as well. Pawan Gupta from Udhampur West, Balwant Singh Mankotia from Chennai, Sunil Bhardhwaj from SC reserved seat of Ramnagar, Jeevan Lal from Bani, Satish Sharma from Billawar, Darshan Singh from Basohli, Rajiv Jasrotia from Jasrota, Vijay Kumar Sharma from Hiranagar will fight the polls.

Devinder Kumar Maniyal is from Ramgarh (SC), former Minister and MLA Chander Prakash Ganga from Vijaypur, Gharu Ram Bhagat from Suchetgarh (SC), Narinder Singh Raina from RS 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 Assembly constituency.

Also on the list are Mohammad Akram Choudhary for the Gulabgarh (ST) seat, Kuldeep Raj Dubey for Reasi and Rohit Dubey for the Mata Vaishno Devi seat. Chowdhary Zulfikar Ali, who recently joined the BJP, will fight elections for the party from the Budhal (ST) seat while Mohammad Iqbal Malik will fight from Thanamandi (ST) constituency.

Others on the list include Thakur Randhir Singh from Kalakote-Sunderbani, Syed Mushtaq Ahmad Bukhari from Surankote, Chowdhary Abdul Gani from Poonch Haveli, Murtaza Khan from Mendhar (ST). In the Chenab Valley region, the BJP has decided to field candidates in Banihal, Ramban, Inderwal, Doda, Bhaderwah, Kishtwar, Paddar-Nagseni and Doda West.

In the 2014 Assembly elections, the BJP had won all these 18 seats from the Jammu division. Despite the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party making fresh inroads in the Jammu division, the BJP is still believed to be the favourite contender for all the 36 seats in the Jammu division.