New Delhi/Jammu, Aug 26: The BJP on Monday named 16 candidates for the first phase of elections to the 90-member Jammu and Kashmir Assembly to be held on September 18.
The party had earlier released its first list of 44 candidates but put out a revised one a few hours later, withdrawing names for the second and third phases, amid disgruntlement among a section of party cadre over a few names in the original list.
While Jammu and Kashmir BJP president Ravinder Raina downplayed the resentment over the initial list, a group of party workers held a protest at its headquarters in Jammu and claimed “parachute candidates” were picked over hardworking workers.
Fields kin of slain party leader from Kishtwar
The list of 16 candidates for the first phase includes three former MLAs and a woman candidate, Shagun Parihar, whose father Ajeet Parihar and uncle Anil Parihar were gunned down by terrorists in Kishtwar district in November 2018. The Parihar brothers were affiliated with the BJP.
The initial list covered 36 segments in the Jammu region and eight in the Kashmir Valley. It included nearly a dozen prominent leaders, including several former ministers who have joined the party in the last five years.
Ten former MLAs, including ex-deputy chief minister Nirmal Singh and ex-Jammu and Kashmir BJP chief Sat Paul Sharma, have been dropped.
Sharing the revised list of candidates, the BJP said the names for the second and third phases should be considered withdrawn. (PTI)
