Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami to Campaign in J&K Assembly Elections

Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami of Uttarakhand is set to campaign in Jammu and Kashmir's upcoming assembly elections. The BJP has released candidate lists for the elections, which will occur in three phases starting September 18. The electorate includes 88.06 lakh eligible voters.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami will be visiting Jammu and Kashmir to participate in the assembly election campaign. BJP's National General Secretary Tarun Chugh has confirmed this in a letter addressed to the Chief Minister. Dhami will be campaigning for three days in the state, where polling will be conducted in three phases on September 18, 25, and October 1. Vote counting is set for October 8.

The BJP recently disclosed its fourth list of candidates for the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections. Notably, party unit chief Ravinder Raina will contest from the Nowshera constituency. Other candidates include Arif Raja for the Eidgah seat, Er. Aijaz Hussain for the Lal Chowk seat, Dr Ali Mohammad Mir for the Khansahib seat, Zahid Hussain for Chrar-i-Sharif, and Vibodh Gupta for Rajouri (ST).

Earlier on August 27, the BJP released its third list of 29 candidates for the upcoming second and third phases of the elections. Key candidates include Murtaza Khan from Mendhar, Sunil Bhardwaj from Ramnagar (SC), Chowdhary Abdul Ghani from Poonch Haveli, Pawan Gupta from Udhampur West, Mohd Iqbal Malik from Thannamandi, and Baldev Raj Sharma from Shri Mata Vaishno Devi.

This follows the announcement of the first two lists on August 26, which comprised 16 candidates. Jammu and Kashmir has 90 assembly constituencies, with 7 reserved for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and 9 for Scheduled Tribes (STs).

According to the Election Commission of India, Jammu and Kashmir has a total of 88.06 lakh eligible voters. In the last assembly elections, the People's Democratic Party (PDP) secured 28 seats, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 25 seats, the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (NC) acquired 15 seats, and the Congress claimed 12 seats.

(With inputs from agencies.)