BJP names 44 for J&K poll, trims list to 16 after protest

Srinagar, August 26

The BJP on Monday morning found itself in a spot as it announced a list of 44 candidates for all three phases of the Assembly elections, only to withdraw it hours later, and finally releasing only the names of 16 candidates for the first phase.

Seat deal sealed — NC 51, Congress 32; ‘friendly’ contest on five

• The National Conference and the Congress on Monday finalised the strategy for sharing seats for the Assembly polls in Jammu & Kashmir
• The NC will contest 51 seats while the Congress 32. The Panthers Party and CPM will get one seat each
• The NC and the Congress will have a “friendly contest” on five Assembly seats
• The deal was finalised after the Congress rushed its leaders to Srinagar to hold discussions on Monday
• Leaders of the two parties have held multiple discussions ever since the alliance was announced

In the revised lists, the candidates for 16 seats — eight each in Kashmir and the Jammu region — have been named. The BJP had won 25 seats in Jammu the last time polls were held in 2014, but had drawn a blank in the Kashmir valley.

The BJP’s list confusion is emblematic of the importance with which it holds this election. Shortly after publishing the full list for 44 candidates, it was deleted from official party WhatsApp groups, with the party media cell in the Valley explaining that it had “typographical errors”. The announcement of the first list by the BJP stirred both disappointment and anger all over the state. BJP workers staged a protest in Jammu over the ticket distribution, while in the Valley, many leaders who were expecting the ticket said the party had failed to reward their hard work.

The withdrawn list had the names of at least three senior leaders missing, including two former Deputy CMs Nirmal Singh and Kavinder Gupta. But it included three new names, including former NC leader Devinder Rana and Minister Jitendra Singh’s brother, who joined the BJP in 2021.

Later in the day, the party released two revised lists, with the names of 16 candidates for the 24 seats going to the polls on September 18. Former Jammu minister Sunil Sharma will contest from the Padder constituency in the Jammu region, while Shagun Parihar will contest from Kishtwar in the Chenab valley — his father Ajit Parihar and uncle Anil Parihar, both BJP leaders, were killed by militants in 2018.

Two Muslims have also been given seats in the Jammu region. Tariq Keen will contest from Inderwal in the Chenab valley, while Salim Bhat will contest from Banihal.

In the Kashmir valley, where the party has been spreading its wings for at least the last decade — although it didn’t contest any seat in the recent Lok Sabha polls — it has named only eight candidates for the 16 seats going to the polls in the first phase, including one Kashmiri Pandit. The last date for filing nomination is Tuesday.

No candidates have been named for two seats in Pulwama district, three in Kulgam, two in Anantnag and one in Shopian. Whether or not the BJP wins any seat in the Valley, it’s clear that its intent is to establish itself on the ground and fly the party flag, even symbolically, and increase the party’s voting percentage.

“Home Minister Amit Shah is on record saying that the BJP is yet to have a base in Kashmir which is needed to contest an election. He had said the party would make gradual inroads,” says analyst Zaffar Chaudhary. Leaders say they were even surprised by the decision not to contest some seats, where party workers had worked hard over the years.

“I contested the first election on the BJP ticket in 1996. I was among the few who proudly held the Indian flag in Kulgam, despite all threats,” Manzoor Ahmad Kulgami, a leader from South Kashmir’s Kulgam, told The Tribune. The BJP didn’t announce any candidate for the Kulgam seat on Monday. “I was hoping to get the ticket, but it is a huge disappointment that after sacrificing everything for the party, even selling my land to contest the elections, during the past 40 years, the party did nothing for me in return,” he said. Kulgami said the party not contesting seats in the Valley was apparently linked to support for some unknown “coalition partners”.

In Srinagar, senior BJP leader Manzoor Bhat, however, said national interest was most important. “Our goal is to form the government in J&K and have our own CM,” he said, adding that the party high command decision was “supreme” and every worker accepted it.

Meanwhile, Minha Lateef, BJP’s only DDC member in Pulwama, has quit the party after another candidate was fielded from Pampore segment.