JAMMU, Aug 25: The mainstream political party, Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) will be banking on new faces and may repeat a few old stalwarts in the three-phase Assembly elections to the 90-member Jammu and Kashmir Assembly scheduled to be held on September 18, September 25 and October 1.
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“The names of the candidates are almost final and submitted to the high command for final stamp and the party this time will be banking more upon new faces,” party sources said.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has already issued a notification for the first phase of voting for the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly election, being held after a decade.
The notification sets August 27 as the last date for filing nominations, with scrutiny on August 28; the last date for the withdrawal of candidature is August 30 and the voting will be held on September 18.
“The BJP in Jammu and Kashmir is a party of bigwigs but barring few, the high command will be fielding more new faces in 90 constituencies to realise their ‘ab ki baar, 50 paar’ slogan,” they said.
The J&K BJP Chief Ravinder Raina had recently said that the party will contest Assembly elections on its own on 70 to 80 seats in Jammu and Kashmir but in the Kashmir valley, deliberations are on with some independent candidates and those who will be capable of winning the seats will be supported by the BJP.
“The BJP at present is the first choice for several political leaders desiring to contest elections and many have joined the party’s fold including from the regional parties,” party sources said adding that the BJP is on the one hand relying on the new faces to gain maximum seats but at the same time, the ‘old pals’ in the party, are also eyeing a ticket for devoting decades into the saffron brigade.
“The names of new entrants are under consideration but ignoring news faces and the old loyalists, who selflessly contributed to the party’s rise in Jammu and Kashmir, will not be a favourable decision at this juncture,” they expressed.
Moreover, the announcement of candidates on caste and community basis in the wake of reserved and open category seats will also not be less than a litmus test for the national party.
The last assembly elections in J&K were held in 2014 after which BJP and PDP formed a coalition government in the erstwhile state of J&K, which fell in June 2018, when BJP withdrew support from the government. (Agencies)
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