Indus Valley Times

SRINAGAR, AUG 26: The BJP on Monday released the first list of 44 candidates for the 90-member Jammu and Kashmir Assembly, the polls for which would be held in three phases beginning September 18.

The list was released after the party’s Central Election Commission cleared the names during its meeting in national capital yesterday, which was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and attended by BJP President J P Nadda, Union Ministers Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, Jitendra Singh and other CEC members.  

For the first phase of polls on September 18, 24 Assembly segments in Anantnag, Pulwama, Shopian, Kulgam Doda, Ramban and Kishtwar districts of J&K would go to polls.

Of the 24 Assembly seats going to polls in the first phase, BJP has released the names of 15 candidates.

The final date for submission of nomination forms for the first phase of polls is tomorrow (August 27).

A BJP leader said it is unlikely that another list of candidates for the first phase would be released by the party as the final date of submission of nomination papers is tomorrow.

For the second phase of polling on September 25, the BJP has released names of 10 candidates and for the third phase of polling, which will take place on October 1, BJP has released names of 14 candidates.

A senior J&K BJP leader said the party would be contesting all 43 seats in the Jammu region and may leave some seats in the valley, where there are 47 Assembly seats, for like-minded independent candidates.

“We will not forge a pre-poll alliance with any party but would support some independent candidates on some Valley seats,” he said.

Over 88 lakh voters are eligible to exercise their right to vote in Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir and out of them about 23.27 lakh voters including 5.66 lakh youths are eligible to vote in the first phase of polling on September 18.

After the abrogation of Article 370 and bifurcation of erstwhile J&K state by centre on August 5, 2019, the strength of Assembly seats in J&K has risen to 90 including 47 seats in Kashmir and 43 seats in Jammu region.

Of the 90 Assembly seats, 9 seats have been reserved for ST and seven for SC.

The Assembly poll is the first such polls in J&K after abrogation of Article 370 and the downgrading and bifurcation of the erstwhile J&K state into two UTs. Jammu and Kashmir has been under direct central rule since June 2018. The last Assembly poll in J&K was held in 2014.

-PTI