Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir):The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday released its third candidate list for the second and third phases of the upcoming Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections. Notably absent from the list are prominent leaders Nirmal Singh, Kavinder Gupta, and Ravinder Raina, raising speculation about the party's strategy in the region.
Among the changes, Baldev Raj Sharma has been selected to contest from Shri Mata Vaishno Devi seat, replacing Rohit Dubey, who was initially nominated in the party's withdrawn list. Despite the unveiling of the latest candidates, the BJP has left the Nowshera and Rajouri Assembly constituencies without declared candidates.
For the second phase of the elections, the BJP has fielded Ashok Bhat from Habba Kadal, Mohammad Akram Chaudhary from Gulabgarh (ST), and Kuldeep Raj Dubey from Reasi. Baldev Raj Sharma, now nominated for Shri Mata Vaishno Devi, will also contest in this phase. Other candidates include Thakur Randhir Singh from Kalakote-Sunderbani, Chowdhary Zulfikar Ali from Budhal (ST), Mohammad Iqbal Naik from Thannamandi (ST), Syed Mushtaq Ahmad Bukhari from Surankot (ST), Chowdhary Abdul Ghani from Poonch Haveli, and Murtaza Khan from Mendhar (ST).
In the third phase, the BJP has named Pawan Gupta for Udhampur West, Balwant Singh Mankotia for Chenani, and Sunil Bhardwaj for Ramnagar (SC). Other key candidates include Jeeval Lal for Bani, Satish Sharma for Billawar, and Darshan Singh for Basohli. Rajiv Jasrotia has been chosen for Jasrota, while Vijay Kumar Sharma will contest from Hiranagar.