The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday released the first list of 44 candidates for the three-phase Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, however, it was withdrawn soon after.
Sources privy to the development said that the list is being redone and the party will release the ‘reworked’ one soon. The absence of many big names from the BJP’s first list also took many by surprise as this is the first time that the union territory is headed to elections after the abrogation of Article 370.
The heavyweights who didn’t find mention in the now-deleted list included J&K BJP president Ravindra Raina, former Deputy Chief Ministers Kavinder Gupta and Nirmal Singh.
The now-deleted list named a total of 44 candidates, with 15 for the first phase, 10 for the second phase and 19 for the third and final phase of elections.
According to party sources, many Assembly seats have been redrawn after the Delimitation exercise and therefore the names of candidates are being finalised, keeping in view the changed dynamics of respective constituencies.
Sources also said that one heavyweight leader expressed a desire to opt out of the race but his request wasn’t entertained by the leadership. His name may be announced at a later stage.
Polling is scheduled to be held in Jammu and Kashmir in three phases on September 19, 25 and October 1 while results will be declared on October 4. This is the first time elections will be held in the UT after the state's bifurcation into two union territories in 2019.
The last Assembly elections were held in 2014. BJP performed exceedingly well in these elections, winning 25 seats while PDP emerged as the single largest party, bagging 28 seats.
This time, Congress and National Conference have joined ranks for the impending polls, however, the two are said to be engaged in a last-minute huddle for finalisation of seats.
The BJP, scoffing at the ‘opportunistic’ alliance, has demanded that Congress clear its stand on Article 370 and stop taking the public for granted.
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