Jammu and Kashmir Elections: BJP withdraws first list of 44 candidates one hour after announcement

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday had announced its first list for the Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections featuring 44 candidates. However, the list has now been withdrawn.

15, 10 and 19 candidates were announced for the first, second and third phase respectively.

Key names included Er. Syed Showkat Gayoor Andrabi from Pampore, Mohd. Rafiq Wani from Anantnag West and Devender Singh Rana from Nagrota among others.


Read More: Jammu and Kashmir Elections: BJP re-releases list for first phase with only 15 names

On Monday, ET had reported that the saffron party, which will not be forming any alliance, has finalised 50 candidates and may field many Muslim leaders.

The BJP is likely to contest on 60-70 seats and may support Independents on other seats, sources told ET.

Jammu and Kashmir will be voting in three phases on September 18, 25, and October 1, marking the first time since the abrogation of Article 370. The counting of votes is scheduled for October 4.

Here's the full list of BJP candidates for Jammu and Kashmir (now withdrawn)

First phase

• Er. Syed Showkat Gayoor Andrabi from Pampore
• Mohd. Rafiq Wani from Anantnag West
• Arshid Bhat from Rajpora
• Javed Ahmad Qadri from Shopian
• Adv. Syed Wazahat from Anantnag
• Srigufwara–Bijbehara from Sofi Yousuf
• Veer Saraf from Shangus–Anantnag East
• Tariq Keen from Inderwal
• Shagun PariharKishtwar
• Sunil Sharma from Padder–Nagseni
• Daleep Singh Parihar from Bhadarwah
• Gajay Singh Rana from Doda
• Shakti Raj Parihar from Doda West
• Rakesh Thakur from Ramban
• Salim Bhat from Banihal

Second phase

• Habbakadal- Ashok Bhat
• Gulabgarh (ST)- Mohammad Akram Chaudhary
• Reasi- Kuldeep Raj Dubey
• Shri Mata Vaishno Devi- Rohit Dubey
• Kalakote–Sunderbani- Thakur Randhir Singh
• Budhal (ST)- Chowdhary Zulfikar Ali
• Thannamandi (ST)- Mohd. Iqbal Malik
• Surankote (ST)- Syed Mushtaq Ahmad Bukhari
• Poonch Haveli- Chowdhary Abdul Ghani
• Mendhar (ST)- Murtaza Khan

Third Phase

• Udhampur West-Pawan Gupta
• Chenani- Balwant Singh Mankotia
• Ramnagar (SC)- Sunil Bhardwaj
• Bani- Jeevan Lal
• Billawar- Satish Sharma
• Basohli- Darshan Singh
• Jasrota- Rajiv Jasrotia
• Hiranagar- Adv. Vijay Kumar Sharma
• Ramgarh (SC)- Dr. Devinder Kumar Maniyal
• Samba- Surjit Singh Slathia
• Vijaypur- Chandra Prakash Ganga
• Suchetgarh (SC)- Gharu Ram Bhagat
• R.S. Pura–Jammu South- Dr. Narinder Singh Raina
• Jammu East- Yudhvir Sethi
• Nagrota- Dr. Devinder Singh Rana
• Jammu West- Arvind Gupta
• Jammu NorthSham Lal Sharma
• Akhnoor (SC)- Mohan Lal Bhagat
• Chhamb- Rajeev Sharma