BJP to declare Anantnag LS seat candidate soon

Arjun Sharma

Jammu, April 8

With major political parties already announcing their candidates for the Anantnag LS seat, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is likely to follow suit soon, sources have informed.

The BJP is trying to make inroads into the Kashmir Valley from Anantnag constituency, as parts of Rajouri and Poonch districts in Jammu division were included in the Kashmir-based seat after delimitation. The BJP is eyeing the Gujjar and Pahari votebanks by wooing them through different tactics.

While the National Conference has fielded Mian Altaf, a prominent Gujjar leader, as their candidate, the PDP has announced its chief, Mehbooba Mufti, as its candidate from the seat. The Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) has also announced that its chief, Ghulam Nabi Azad, will contest for the seat.

The BJP is now eyeing the prestige seat, where all political parties are leaving no stone unturned to register their win. The seat has multi-faceted factors, including Hindu, Gujjar, Pahari, and Kashmiri votes, that are going to make things tricky for all parties.

It has been learnt that the BJP may field a prominent figure from the constituency to woo the majority votebank. The BJP is holding discussions regarding the constituency at present, and an announcement is likely in the coming days. Elections in Anantnag will be held on May 7.

Senior political leaders, including BJP J&K president Ravinder Raina, who belongs to Rajouri, have campaigned in the constituency. It is a prestige issue, even for Raina.

Insiders informed that while the BJP was confident of a victory in the Udhampur and Jammu LS constituencies, the saffron party had discussed the choice of candidates with the local leadership of J&K to ensure it gets a dignified number of votes in the constituency. The party believes that due to Mehbooba Mufti and Mian Altaf in the poll fray, the Muslim votes are likely to divide, thus benefitting the Bharatiya Janata Party.

The constituency also became a reason for the breaking of INDIA bloc on three seats in Kashmir, as the PDP was seeking to contest from Anantnag under the alliance, but the NC announced its candidate, ignoring the PDP. Now the alliance is working only on two seats in the Jammu division in J&K.

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