A day after the BJP released its first list of candidates and later withdrew it following protests by party workers, the saffron party again released a list of 29 candidates with only one change on Tuesday.
The party has changed the candidate for the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi constituency. Earlier, the party has allocated this seat to Rohit Dubey, but now it has been given to Baldev Raj Sharma.
Party workers and local leaders had staged a protest demonstration at the BJP headquarters in Jammu after the party released a list of 44 candidates on Monday.
Later, the BJP withdrew the list and subsequently released a list of only 16 candidates for the first phase. With Tuesday’s list, the party has announced a total of 45 candidates so far.
There were no changes in the names of candidates from constituencies in Rajouri and Poonch districts, which are set to become a major battleground for different political parties due to their geo-political status.
The protesters had questioned the allotment of tickets to leaders, who recently joined the party after leaving the NC, Congress and the PDP.
Chowdhary Zulfikar Ali, who left Apni Party to join the BJP, has been fielded from Budhal, while Chowdhary Abdul Ghani, who recently left the Congress, has been fielded from Poonch Haveli. Former PDP leader Murtaza Khan was granted ticket from Mendhar. The fielding of turncoats has infuriated the turncoats.
Notably, the Nowshera seat, from where BJP UT chief Ravinder Raina is expecting a ticket, did not figure in the list. The party has not announced its candidate from Bahu, a new constituency that was carved out after the delimitation, either. Former Deputy CM Kavinder Gupta is also ‘lobbying’ for the Bahu seat.
In Nagrota, the party has fielded a popular leader Devender Singh Rana. The National Conference is still struggling to fill the void in the region after Rana shifted to the BJP in 2021.
In the SC reserved seat of Akhnoor, the party chose Mohan Lal Bhagat, who is popular for his social works and recently took voluntary retirement as SSP. Other candidates from the SC reserved seats include Gharu Ram Bhagat from Suchetgarh, Devinder Kumar Maniyal from Ramgarh and Sunil Bhardwaj from Ramnagar.
BJP J&K chief Ravinder Raina had on Monday said that he would talk to the party workers and leaders and pacify them.
