North News
New Delhi, August 26
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday released revised lists of 16 candidates for the first two phases of the Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) assembly elections set for September 18 and 25, just hours after withdrawing a previous list that included 44 nominees due to internal disagreements within the party. Initially, the BJP reissued a list with 15 candidates, followed by a second list that added one more nominee, The Hindustan Times reported.
The initial list, which was promptly retracted, had included candidates for the second and third phases as well. The revised list is focused on the first phase, with polling scheduled for September 18.
The news outlet reported the fresh list 15 candidates includes Shokwat Gayoor Andrabi (Pampore), Arshid Bhat (Rajpora), Javed Ahmed Qadri (Shopian), Rafiq Wani (Anantnag West), Syed Wajahat (Anantnag), Sofi Yousuf (Srigufwara), Veer Saraf (Shangus) from the Kashmir Valley. The candidates from the Jammu region are Tariq Keen (Inderwal), Shagun Parihar (Kishtwar), former minister Sunil Sharma (Padder-Nagseni), Daleep Singh Parihar (Bhaderwah), Gajay Singh Rana (Doda), Shakti Raj Parihar (Doda West), Rakesh Thakur (Ramban) and Salim Bhat (Banihal). The last list include the name of one candidate Choudhary Roshan Hussain Gujjar.
The elections for the 90-member assembly will take place in three phases, scheduled for September 18, 23, and October 1 and results to be announced on October 4. This election is notable as the first in the valley since the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019. The list of candidates which was withdrawn later includes Arshid Bhat for Rajpora, Javed Ahmad Qadri for Shopian, Mohd. Rafiq Wani for Anantnag West, Adv. Syed Wazahat for Anantnag, Sushri Shagun Parihar for Kishtwar, and Gajay Singh Rana for Doda.
