Jammu and Kashmir Assembly polls: BJP names 15 candidates for first phase

New Delhi: The BJP on Monday released its first list of 15 candidates for the first phase of elections to the 90-member Jammu and Kashmir Assembly to be held on September 18. An earlier BJP list, released a couple of hours before the revised one was put out, included 10 names for the second phase and 19 for the third.

However, the party later said that the names for these two phases should be considered withdrawn. August 27 is the last date for filing nominations for the first phase and the process for the second and third phases will begin from August 29 and September 5 respectively.

The first list includes the names of candidates for a few Kashmir constituencies, including Pampore, Shopian, Anantnag West and Anantnag. The BJP's Central Election Committee had met on Sunday evening to finalise the candidates for the polls. The elections in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir will be held in three phases -- September 18, September 25 and October 1.

The 90-member Haryana Assembly will also go to polls on October 1. The counting of votes for the assembly polls in both Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana will be taken up on October 4. In the last assembly elections held in Jammu and Kashmir in 2014, when it was a full-fledged State, the BJP had won 25 seats. The party is making all-out efforts to fend off the challenge from a resurgent Congress, which has tied up with the National Conference, especially in the Jammu region -- a BJP bastion since 2014.