The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday withdrew its first list of candidates for Jammu and Kashmir within hours of publication. The party has said it would re-release the list with amends.
The BJP's Central Election Committee met under the leadership of party chief and Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda on Sunday to finalise the candidates list. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah also attended the meeting. Elections to the 90-seat assembly will be conducted in three phases.
The Jammu and Kashmir assembly polls will be conducted in three phases – on September 18, September 25 and October 1. Polled votes will be counted on October 4. As per the withdrawn list, the party had announced 15 candidates for the first phase of polls, 10 for the second phase and 19 for the third phase.
In the last assembly elections held in 2014 in Jammu and Kashmir, the BJP had won 25 seats. Jammu and Kashmir was a full fledged state then. The ruling party is making all out efforts to fight the challenge from Congress-National Conference alliance, especially in the Jammu region, a BJP bastion since 2014.
The BJP is facing a slew of challenges in Jammu―frustration among voters because of the prolonged political vacuum, anger at the new rules affecting local businesses, and discontent rooted in unemployment, inflation and rising electricity bills.
Meanwhile, the filing of nominations for the first phase of elections in Jammu and Kashmir has started to pick up speed as 14 candidates have filed their nomination papers ahead of the August 27 deadline. 24 constituencies will go to polls in the first phase, with 16 located in the Kashmir Valley and the rest in the Jammu region.
