New Delhi: The BJP’s decision to give tickets to candidates who recently joined the party has not been well-received by its leaders and workers. This has caused resentment within the party. The saffron party has so far released a list of 45 candidates for the three-phased election. The party has canceled the tickets of 7 of its former ministers and three sitting MLAs in the Jammu region.
Upset leaders may contest as independents
Angry BJP workers are alleging that ‘parachute’ leaders have been prioritised for ticket distribution. BJP workers remain upset over the withdrawal of Rohit Dubey’s ticket from Katra after it was initially granted to him. Rohit Dubey is expected to decide today whether he will remain with the party or contest the elections as an independent candidate.
Initially, the party released a list of 44 candidates for all three phases of the assembly elections but later withdrew it. A revised list, released just hours afterwards, reduced the number to 15 candidates for the first phase. Subsequently, the BJP announced an additional 29 candidates for the Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections.
Ram Madhav met sulking state leaders
The saffron party had earlier launched damage control exercise in Jammu and Kashmir to pacify its upset leaders. The party top brass deployed Ram Madhav, who is also the BJP’s in-charge for Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections to meet the sulking state leaders. Madhav met party senior leader Sat Sharma, former Deputy CM Kavindra Gupta, and others like Omi Khajuria and Rohit Dubey who were upset after their names did not appear in the party’s candidates list. Madhav is also set to meet former Deputy CM Nirmal Singh today.
Three phase polling
The Election Commission of India announced the polling dates for the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir on Friday, 16 August. The 90-member assembly election will be held in three phases: the first on 18 September, the second on 25 September, and the third on 1 October. The votes will be counted on 4 October. This will be the first assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370.