BJP Announces Additional Candidates for Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Polls

The BJP released a new list of 29 candidates for the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections, increasing its total announced seats to 45. Notable candidates include Devender Singh Rana for Nagrota and Satish Sharma for Billawar. Polls will take place in three phases on September 18, 25, and October 1.

The BJP on Tuesday named 29 more candidates for the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly polls, taking to 45 the number of seats for which it has announced its nominees.

The party has fielded Devender Singh Rana from Nagrota and named Satish Sharma as its candidate from Billawar, which was represented by former Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh in the last assembly polls held in 2014.

The BJP has made one change from the now-rescinded list, which was put out on Monday, as it has named Baldev Raj Sharma from Shri Mata Vaishno Devi seat in place of Rohit Dubey. All other names are the same for the same set of constituencies announced yesterday before being withdrawn.

The party's latest list has 10 candidates for the second phase of polls and 19 for the third phase. The BJP has so far not named its nominee for Nowshera, which was represented in 2014 by its current state president Ravinder Raina, and Gandhinagar, from where another senior leader and former Deputy Chief Minister Kavinder Gupta was elected in the last polls. The Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, which has a 90-member assembly, is going to the polls in three phases on September 18, 25, and October 1.

(With inputs from agencies.)