New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has pulled a strategic U-turn in its Jammu and Kashmir assembly election campaign, withdrawing its initial candidate list and releasing a new one with a significantly smaller number of candidates.
The revised list, announced just hours after the initial list was withdrawn, features only 15 candidates for the first phase of the election, down from the original 44. The party has chosen to hold back the candidates for the second and third phases, suggesting a change in strategy.
The fresh list includes senior party leaders like Er Showkat Gayoor, a former PDP leader and Arshid Bhat from Rajpora, indicating a move to attract voters from various political backgrounds. It also includes candidates from significant Muslim-majority areas like Shopian, Anantnag and Kishtwar, signifying a deliberate attempt to broaden its reach within the region.
While the BJP has previously announced its commitment to not allying with any political party in the region, the saffron party has suggested a willingness to engage with independent candidates and potentially build a coalition post-election.
The upcoming J&K elections, with a total of 90 assembly constituencies, are expected to be closely contested, with the BJP facing competition from the National Conference, People’s Democratic Party, and other regional parties.
After the delimitation of the process carried out by the Centre under the LG administration in Jammu and Kashmir, the total count of assembly constituencies in the UT was raised to 90, out of which 74 are reserved for general category candidates, 9 for Scheduled Tribes and seven for Scheduled Castes. According to the Election Commission data, the total number of registered in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir is 87.09 lakh with almost an equal percentage of male and female voters.
In the Jammu and Kashmir polls, the BJP has made it clear that it will not ally with any political party and will support strong independent candidates on those assembly seats in Kashmir valley where the party will not contest the elections.