The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has released its initial list of 44 candidates for the upcoming Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections. This announcement marks the beginning of the party's campaign for the elections, which will be held in three phases on September 18, 25, and October 1. The counting of votes is scheduled for October 4.
The BJP's list includes 15 candidates for the first phase, 10 for the second phase, and 19 for the third phase. Notable candidates include Er. Syed Showkat Gayoor Andrabi from Pampore, Mohd. Rafiq Wani from Anantnag West, and Devender Singh Rana from Nagrota.
In a recent report, it was highlighted that the BJP, which is opting not to form any alliances, has finalized 50 candidates and is expected to field several Muslim leaders. The party plans to contest 60-70 seats and may support independent candidates in other constituencies.
Here is the complete list of BJP candidates for each phase:
First Phase:
Er. Syed Showkat Gayoor Andrabi – Pampore Mohd. Rafiq Wani – Anantnag West Arshid Bhat – Rajpora Javed Ahmad Qadri – Shopian Adv. Syed Wazahat – Anantnag Sofi Yousuf – Srigufwara–Bijbehara Veer Saraf – Shangus–Anantnag East Tariq Keen – Inderwal Shagun Parihar – Kishtwar Sunil Sharma – Padder–Nagseni Daleep Singh Parihar – Bhadarwah Gajay Singh Rana – Doda Shakti Raj Parihar – Doda West Rakesh Thakur – Ramban Salim Bhat – Banihal
Second Phase:
Ashok Bhat – Habbakadal Mohammad Akram Chaudhary – Gulabgarh (ST) Kuldeep Raj Dubey – Reasi Rohit Dubey – Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Thakur Randhir Singh – Kalakote–Sunderbani Chowdhary Zulfikar Ali – Budhal (ST) Mohd. Iqbal Malik – Thannamandi (ST) Syed Mushtaq Ahmad Bukhari – Surankote (ST) Chowdhary Abdul Ghani – Poonch Haveli Murtaza Khan – Mendhar (ST)
Third Phase:
Pawan Gupta – Udhampur West Balwant Singh Mankotia – Chenani Sunil Bhardwaj – Ramnagar (SC) Jeevan Lal – Bani Satish Sharma – Billawar Darshan Singh – Basohli Rajiv Jasrotia – Jasrota Adv. Vijay Kumar Sharma – Hiranagar Dr. Devinder Kumar Maniyal – Ramgarh (SC) Surjit Singh Slathia – Samba Chandra Prakash Ganga – Vijaypur Gharu Ram Bhagat – Suchetgarh (SC) Dr. Narinder Singh Raina – R.S. Pura–Jammu South Yudhvir Sethi – Jammu East Dr. Devinder Singh Rana – Nagrota Arvind Gupta – Jammu West Sham Lal Sharma – Jammu North Mohan Lal Bhagat – Akhnoor (SC) Rajeev Sharma – Chhamb
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