JAMMU, Sept 5: BJP UT chief Ravinder Raina, former MP, three Ministers and six legislators, sitting DDC member and many other prominent faces were among the candidates who filed nomination papers on last day for second phase of elections on 11 Assembly seats of three districts including Reasi, Rajouri and Poonch in Jammu division taking total number of contestants to 107.
There was no let up in rebellion in the BJP with prominent Gujjar face of the party Choudhary Talib Hussain, who is former MP and Minister, filing nomination papers as an Independent candidate against the BJP general secretary Vibodh Gupta from Rajouri constituency. Talib contested 2014 Assembly election as the BJP candidate but lost to Choudhary Qamar of the PDP.
Both Vibodh Gupta and Choudhary Talib Hussain filed their nomination papers today. Iftikhar Ahmed (Congress), Master Tassaduq Hussain (PDP) and Manzoor Hussain (Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party) are among 14 candidates in fray for Rajouri seat.
Scrutiny of nominations for second phase will be held tomorrow while September 9 is last date for withdrawal of papers.
Two former Ministers Aijaz Ahmed Khan and Jugal Kishore Sharma filed papers as Independent candidates from Reasi and Katra seats respectively.
BJP president Ravinder Raina joined the battle of ballots from Nowshera Assembly constituency today. BJP Election Incharge for J&K Ram Madhav joined Raina during filing of nomination papers.
Raina, who won Nowshera seat defeating PDP’s Surinder Choudhary in 2014, held a road show before filing the papers. Choudhary this time is the NC candidate.
“This isn’t just my candidacy; it represents the aspirations of 1.25 lakh people of the Nowshera constituency. It is their mandate and the voice of the people. The overwhelming turnout here, reminiscent of (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi’s rallies, shows BJP’s imminent victory,” Raina said during a public rally.
“The people of Nowshera await us with even greater enthusiasm,” he added.
PDP has fielded Haq Nawaz and BSP Manohar Singh from Nowshera seat.
BJP candidate Baldev Raj Sharma, former Minister Jugal Kishore Sharma (Independent) and Bhupinder Singh Jamwal (Congress) entered the electoral contest today from Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra seat in Reasi district.
Baldev Raj, who won Reasi seat in 2008 but was denied mandate in 2014, was joined by BJP MP from Jammu-Reasi seat Jugal Kishore Sharma, Ashok Koul, general secretary (organizations), Uttarakhand MLA Durgesh and BJP district president Rohit Dubey at the time of filing the nomination papers.
Congress candidate Bhupinder Singh Jamwal is contesting elections for the first time while Jugal Kishore Sharma, former Minister, emerged victorious from Reasi seat in 2002 but lost it as Independent in 1996 and Congress nominee in 2008 and 2014. Later, he joined Ghulam Nabi Azad’s DPAP but was denied the mandate and is now in the fray as an Independent candidate
Another former Minister Aijaz Ahmed Khan joined the electoral contest from Gulabgarh seat today as an Independent candidate. Aijaz had won Gool-Arnas seat for three consecutive terms in 2002, 2008 and 2014, initially as an Independent followed by the Congress nominee. NC candidate Khursheed Ahmed had filed papers from Gulabgarh yesterday.
As per NC-Congress alliance, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi and Reasi seats will be contested by the Congress and Gulabgarh by the NC.
Mohammad Farooq Inqullabi joined the fray from Gulabgarh as PDP candidate. In Reasi seat, the PDP has fielded Bodh Raj Meena who also filed nominations today.
In Budhal segment of Rajouri district, NC candidate Javaid Iqbal Choudhary joined the electoral fight today. He will be facing his maternal uncle Choudhary Zulfkar Ali who having won the seat in 2008 and 2014 as PDP candidate is now the BJP nominee.
Ashok Sharma, who represented Kalakote Assembly constituency in 1996, today submitted documents to the Returning Officer from Sunderbani-Kalakote seat as DPAP candidate. BJP’s Thakur Randhir Singh and NC’s Yasuvardhan Singh have already joined the fray from the same seat where Arun Kumar Sharma is JKAP and Majid Hussain Shah, PDP candidate.
BJP leader and DDC member Mohammad Iqbal Malik filed nominations from Thannamandi seat in Rajouri district. Congress nominee and former Minister Mohammad Shabir Khan also joined the fray from the same seat where 2014 Rajouri MLA Qamar Hussain is the PDP candidate. Irfan Anjum has filed nominations as the JKAP nominee.
As per NC-Congress seat-sharing agreement, NC is contesting Sunderbani-Kalakote, Nowshera and Budhal seats while Congress is in the fray from Rajouri and Thanna Mandi.
BJP candidate Choudhary Abdul Ghani submitted his nomination papers today for Poonch-Haveli seat. Aijaz Ahmad Jan (NC) and Shah Mohammad Tantray (JKAP) filed their papers yesterday. Shamim Ahmed Ganaie joined the electoral battle as the PDP nominee. Tantray won Poonch seat in 2014 as PDP candidate but this time he is contesting as JKAP nominee. Jan won the seat in 2008.
Congress leader Shahnawaz Choudhary joined the electoral race from Surankote seat today where BJP candidate Mushtaq Ahmed Bukhari and Choudhary Mohammad Akram, former MLA (Independent) and other prominent faces have already jumped into the fray.
Javed Ahmed Rana (NC) and Nadeem Ahmed Khan (PDP) filed nominations today from Mendhar seat while Murtaza Ahmed Khan (BJP) had filed the papers yesterday. Rana had won Mendhar seat in 2002 and 2014 while Nadeem’s father Rafiq Khan emerge victorious as the PDP candidate in 2008.
A total of 107 candidates have filed nominations for 11 seats of Jammu division till last date of filing the papers today. Eleven seats going to polls in second phase include five in Rajouri district and three each in Poonch and Reasi districts.
Forty eight candidates are in fray in Rajouri district, 35 in Poonch and 24 in Reasi.
Constituency wise 14 nominations have been filed in Rajouri, 11 in Sunderbani-Kalakote, eight each in Nowshera and Thannamandi and seven in Budhal; 13 in Poonch and 11 each in Surankote and Mendhar; and 10 in Reasi and seven each in Shri Mata Vaishno Devi and Gulabgarh.