BJP has nominated Shagun Parihar from Kishtwar constituency. Her father Ajit Parihar and uncle Anil Parihar were killed by terrorists on November 1, 2018.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday released its revised list of 15 candidates for the first phase of the Jammu and Kashmir assembly polls, after withdrawing its initial list of 44 candidates.
The first list which was promptly withdrawn included candidates for the second and third phases also. The revised list focuses exclusively on the first phase with polling scheduled for September 18.
The second phase will be held on September 25, and the final phase on October 1. The updated list features seven candidates from the Kashmir Valley and eight from the Jammu region.
Sources said the new list is specific to the first phase as the previous list had included candidates for the other phases as well.
The fresh list includes Shokwat Gayoor Andrabi (Pampore), Arshid Bhat (Rajpora), Javed Ahmed Qadri (Shopian), Rafiq Wani (Anantnag West), Syed Wajahat (Anantnag), Sofi Yousuf (Srigufwara), Veer Saraf (Shangus) from the Kashmir Valley.
The candidates from the Jammu region are Tariq Keen (Inderwal), Shagun Parihar (Kishtwar), former minister Sunil Sharma (Padder-Nagseni), Daleep Singh Parihar (Bhaderwah), Gajay Singh Rana (Doda), Shakti Raj Parihar (Doda West), Rakesh Thakur (Ramban) and Salim Bhat (Banihal).
Who is Shagun Parihar?
Shagun Parihar is a new face for the party. Her father, Ajit Parihar and uncle Anil Parihar, both affiliated with the Bharatiya Janata Party were killed by terrorists on November 1, 2018 in Kishtwar while returning from their shop.
In the 2014 elections, the Kishtwar constituency was won by Sunil Sharma, who defeated National Conference leader and former minister Sajjad Ahmed Kitchloo.
This time, Sharma has been fielded from Padder-Nagseni, one of six new assembly segments added to the Jammu region after the delimitation process.
The final delimitation report, released on May 5, 2022, increased the total number of seats to 90, adding six seats to Jammu and one to Kashmir. This report took effect on May 20, 2022.
The upcoming polls mark the first assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir in nearly a decade. The last assembly election was held in 2014, leading to the formation of a government by the BJP and the Peoples’ Democratic Party on March 1, 2015, with Mufti Mohammad Sayeed as chief minister.
