J-K Assembly Polls: After Jammu, discontent now in Kashmir BJP over leaving out Valley seats in Phase 1, says report

After resentment and resignations of its leaders from Jammu over ticket distribution, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is now facing anger in Kashmir division in the run up to assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir.

The party leaders in Kashmir Valley are unhappy with the leadership for fielding candidates in only eight of the sixteen seats voting in first phase in Kashmir Valley, according to a report.

Not just that, among the 29 candidates announced for the second and third phases, so far, only one is for a Kashmir Valley seat, adding to the concerns of the saffron party leaders in the Union Territory, according to a report in Indian Express.

As many as 24 seats are goint to polls across Jammu and Kashmir in the first phase of polling on September 18. This includes 16 seats from the Valley and 8 seats in Jammu. The BJP has fielded only 8 candidates for the 16 Valley seats. The last date of filing nominations for the first phase was August 27.

All the eight seats the BJP is skipping in the Valley fall in South Kashmir, once consudered separatist hotbet. “When we joined the party 15 years ago, we were given preferential treatment. Now that we have given our blood and sweat for this party, we are being sidelined,” a BJP leader was quoted as saying in Indian Express.

The discontent in Kashmir comes days after two old-time leaders in Jammu resigned from the party over ticket distributions. Some irked workers even protested against the decisions in Jammu.

“Many of the candidates fielded so far are leaders who joined the BJP recently. They have been given preference over those who have been with the party for almost two decades,” said another BJP leader in Indian Express report.

Jammu and Kashmir is all set to hold its first Assembly elections for the 90-member assembly in a decade to elect a government after over six years of Central rule. While Kashmir has 47 seats, there are 43 seats in Jammu.

Voting will be held in three phases with first round on September 18. The next two phases will be held on September 25 and October 1. The results will be announced on October 4.

The BJP has so far announced names of 45 candidates for the three-phase elections. Few more names for the second and third phases are expected to be released soon.

On August 26, BJP withdrew its list of candidates for 44 seats, few hours after releasing it. The saffron party eventually released three lists with 45 names.

The Indian Express report said that the BJP having separate power centres in Jammu and Kashmir was the reason for growing discontent. The party's Kashmir-based leaders had in August 2023 threatened to resign en masse, accusing the party’s Jammu-based brass of ‘not trusting’ Kashmiri leaders.