NEW DELHI: Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP president J P Nadda on Friday held a long meeting with party leaders from Jammu and Kashmir as the party narrows down the list of probable candidates for the coming assembly polls and fine tune their strategy.
Jammu and Kashmir BJP president Ravinder Raina, Devender Singh Rana, and Union minister Jitendra Singh were among others who were part of the consultation.
Union minister G Kishan Reddy and Ram Madhav, the party’s poll in-charges for the state, and its national general secretary Tarun Chugh were part of the deliberations as well.
The BJP’s Central Election Committee is expected to meet in a few days to finalise its candidates for Haryana, and J-K polls.
The 90-member assembly of the Union Territory is going to the polls in three phases on September 18 and 25 and October 1. The counting of votes is scheduled for October 4.
In the last assembly election held in 2014, when Jammu and Kashmir was a full-fledged state, the BJP had won 25 seats.
The party is making all out efforts to fend off the challenge from a resurgent Congress, which has tied up with the National Conference, especially in the Jammu region, a BJP bastion since 2014.
A top BJP source disclosed to news agency KINS, “The meeting focused on short listing names for the J&K elections. The final candidate list is expected to be confirmed after the Central Election Committee (CEC) meeting on August 25.”
Dr. Nirmal Singh, a senior BJP leader and former Deputy Chief Minister, had already indicated that 50 percent of the candidate list has already been forwarded to the Central Election Committee and the Parliamentary Board for review. “The initial panel of candidates has been sent, and we expect the list to be released soon,” Dr. Singh had said.
BJP sources told KINS that the final candidate list will be decided by the National Election Committee, which is headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
According to party sources, the CEC meeting on August 25 will be crucial in finalizing the party’s strategy for the J&K assembly elections.
The BJP is poised to contest the upcoming J&K Assembly polls with a robust strategy and confident leadership.
“BJP is fully prepared to contest the upcoming J&K Assembly polls with a strong strategy and the right candidates,” a senior party member stated.
The J&K Assembly elections, scheduled in three phases on September 18, 25, and October 1, will be a significant election, marking the first assembly poll in the region since the abrogation of Article 370.
Results are expected to be announced on October 4. The Election Commission has already issued notifications for the first phase, covering 24 assembly seats.
