5 candidates each from Kashmir, Jammu regions announced for assembly segments going to polls in phase 3

Jammu, Sep 08: Amid dissension over ticket distribution, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Sunday decided to give precedence to its former legislator (MLC) Vikram Randhawa over former deputy chief minister and senior leader Kavinder Gupta as its nominee from the Bahu assembly segment in Jammu district.

In 2014, Gupta represented the BJP from the Gandhinagar assembly segment, rechristened as Bahu after delimitation.

Randhawa is the son of former MLA Chowdhary Piara Singh, who too represented the BJP from the Gandhinagar assembly segment.

As per party insiders, the decision is aimed at serving twin purposes – one to contain further rebellion and the second to offset the anti-incumbency effect.

BJP’s other balancing act came from the Udhampur East assembly constituency, where the party gave its mandate to R S Pathania, who had joined BJP after leaving Congress, almost a decade ago.

Pathania had represented the BJP from the Ramnagar segment in the 2014 Assembly elections, after defeating Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party (JKNPP) candidate and former minister Harsh Dev Singh.

From Udhampur East, Pawan Khajuria, another dedicated BJP leader, was a strong contender yet he missed the bus again.

The names of Randhawa and Pathania figured in the sixth list of ten more candidates for the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections, released by the Central Election Committee of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) this morning.

The list included candidates for five Assembly segments, each from Kashmir and Jammu regions, all going to polls in the third phase on October 1, 2024.

In the Kashmir region, from Karnah BJP has fielded Muhammad Idrees Karnahi from Karnah; Ghulam Muhammad Mir will contest from Handwara; Abdul Rashid Khan will be its candidate from Sonawari; Naseer Ahmad Lone has got a mandate from Bandipora while Faqir Muhammad Khan is the party nominee from Gurez (ST) Assembly segment.

From Jammu region, besides Randhawa and Pathania, other three candidates, who have been given party mandates from three important reserved seats, included Dr Bharat Bhushan from Kathua (SC) Assembly constituency; Rajeev Bhagat from Bishnah (SC) and Surinder Bhagat from Marh (SC).

A total of 40 Assembly constituencies in the districts of Kupwara, Baramulla, Bandipora, Udhampur, Kathua, Samba and Jammu will go to polls in the third and final phase of assembly elections.

These included 16 Assembly constituencies in Kashmir division - Karnah, Trehgam, Kupwara, Lolab, Handwara, Langate, Sopore, Rafiabad, Uri, Baramulla, Gulmarg, Wagoora-Kreeri, Pattan, Sonawari, Bandipora, Gurez (ST) and 24 Assembly constituencies in Jammu division - Udhampur West, Udhampur East, Chenani, Ramnagar (SC), Bani, Billawar, Basohli, Jasrota, Kathua (SC), Hiranagar, Ramgarh (SC), Samba, Vijaypur, Bishnah (SC), Suchetgarh (SC), R S Pura–Jammu South, Bahu, Jammu East, Nagrota, Jammu West, Jammu North, Marh (SC), Akhnoor (SC), and Chhamb.