NEW DELHI — Ahead of the Jammu and Kashmir elections, the top leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party will hold eight rallies in the Union Territory.
Meanwhile, the BJP election in charge of Jammu and Kashmir, Ram Madhav and G Kishan Reddy will arrive in the Union Territory on Monday.
Polling in Jammu and Kashmir will be held in three phases on September 18, 25, and October 1, according to the Election Commission of India. The counting of votes will take place on October 4.
In the Jammu and Kashmir polls, the BJP has made it clear that it will not ally with any political party and will support strong independent candidates on those assembly seats in Kashmir valley where the party will not contest the elections.
Earlier on Sunday, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Central Election Committee meeting was held at the party headquarters in the national capital and it is believed that the list of all the candidates for the first phase can be released today (Monday).
According to sources, the list of 40 to 50 seats of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly polls will be released on Monday.
The meeting of the Central Election Committee lasted for about 2:30 hours at the BJP headquarters and was held under the chairmanship of BJP National President Jagat Prakash Nadda.
The meeting was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Central Election Committee members Sudha Yadav, Iqbal Singh Lalpura Vanathi Srinivasan etc.
The meeting regarding Jammu and Kashmir was very special and was attended by Jammu and Kashmir in-charge Tarun Chugh, co-in-charge Ashish Sood, state president Ravindra Raina, Rajya Sabha MP Ghulam Ali Khatana, Lok Sabha MP Jugal Kishore, Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh, Jammu and Kashmir Organization General Secretary Ashok Kaul and Devendra Rana were also present in the meeting.
After Jammu and kashmir discussion, a meeting of the Central Election Committee is likely to be called on August 29 regarding the Haryana assembly elections, sources said.
In the 2014 Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, the PDP won 28 seats, the Bharatiya Janata Party won 25 seats, the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference won 15 seats, and the Congress secured 12 seats.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and BJP formed a coalition government led by Mufti Mohammed Sayeed. However, in 2018, the BJP withdrew its support from the alliance after Mehbooba Mufti took over following Mufti Mohammed Sayeed’s demise.
These are the first assembly elections to be held in Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370. — (ANI)