Ending all speculation, BJP on Monday nominated the president of the Jammu and Kashmir unit of the party Ravinder Raina to contest electiions from the Nowshera Assembly segment in the Rajouri district.
The BJP on Monday released its fourth list of six candidates for the upcoming assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir, nominating party unit chief Ravinder Raina from the Nowshera constituency.
In the 2014 Assembly elections, Ravinder Raina had won elections from the same constituency by defeating the then Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate Surinder Choudhary. This time Surinder Choudhary is contesting elections as candidate of the National Conference.
With the fresh list, the party has so far named 51 candidates, including 14 for the Kashmir Valley, where the BJP is yet to open its account in assembly elections.
Raina, who won from Nowshera in Rajouri district in the 2014 polls too, has been fielded again from his home constituency.
The other names in the list included former MLC Vibodh Gupta from Rajouri (ST) in the Jammu region, Aijaiz Hussain (Lal Chowk), Arif Raja (Eidgah), Ali Mohammad Mir (Khansahib) and Zahid Hussain (Chrar-e-Sharief) from the Kashmir Valley. The list was released with the approval of the party's central election committee.
J&K Congress chief to contest from Central Shalteng constituency
The newly appointed president of the Jammu and Kashmir Congress Committee (JKPCC) chief Tariq Hameed Karra is going to contest elections from the Central Shalteng assembly segment of central Kashmir.
The Congress party has released its second list of six candidates for the upcoming Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections, bringing the total number of declared candidates to 15. The list includes:
- Tariq Hameed Karra, JKPCC chief, from Central Shalteng
- Mumtaz Khan from Reasi
- Bhupender Jamwal from Mata Vaishno Devi
- Iftikhar Ahmed from Rajouri (ST)
- Shabbir Ahmed Khan from Thannamandi (ST)
- Mohammad Shahnawaz Choudhary from Surankote (ST)
These constituencies will go to polls in the second phase of the three-phase assembly elections.
The list was released after the Congress' Central Election Committee met to finalize names of candidates for the elections, which the party is contesting in alliance with the National Conference. Attendees included Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, former party chief Rahul Gandhi, and senior leader Salman Khurshid.
The National Conference and the Congress have finalized the seat-sharing formula, with the Congress contesting 32 seats and the National Conference contesting 51 seats. One seat each has been allotted to the CPI(M) and the JKNPP.
Last week, the Congress had issued its first list of nine candidates, including party general secretary Ghulam Ahmad Mir from Dooru and former JKPCC chief Vikar Rasool Wani from Banihal.
First phase of elections on September 18
The Jammu and Kashmir elections will be held in three phases — September 18, September 25, and October 1 — followed by counting of votes on October 8. This will be the first assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir since the revocation of Article 370 of the Constitution in August 2019 and the state's division into two Union Territories.
