J&K Assembly Polls: Setback For BJP, PDP As EC Rejects Nomination Of These Candidates. Check Details

Election Commission has rejected the nomination of a BJP candidate from Doda and several other PDP candidates. Jailed Cleric Barkati's nomination has also been rejected.

Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Polls: The Bharatiya Janata Party suffered a setback ahead of the assembly elections slated to be held in Jammu and Kashmir on September 18 to October 1. The reason behind the setback is the cancellation of the nomination form of one of its candidate by the Election Commission of India. The nomination forms of several PDP candidates and jailed cleric Sarjan Barkati have also been rejected.

BJP had nominated Rakesh Kumar to contest the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections from Kashmir's Doda. The BJP leader had filed his nomination on August 27. However, the current status of his nomination shows that it has been rejected by the poll body.

J&K Candidates Whose Nominations Have Been Rejected

Besides the BJP, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti's People's Democratic Party has also suffered major setback. The nomination forms of PDP candidates Abid Hussain Malik from Inderwal and Bashra Ahmed from Kishtwar were also rejected. The form of PDP's candidate from Doda, Talib Hussain was also rejected by the poll body.

Jailed Cleric Barkati's Nomination Rejected, Mufti Reacts

The form of a jailed cleric Sarjan Ahmad Wagay, popularly known as Sarjan Barkati has also been rejected. Barkati is in jail over a case related to terror-funding case. He had filed his nomination as an Independent candidate from the Zainpora Assembly constituency in the Shopian district, where polling was set to take place in the first phase on September 18. However, he will not be able to contest polls since his nomination stands rejected. 

Following this, Mufti expressed her disappointment over the rejection and asked the poll body to reveal the reason behind it. In a post on X, she wrote: "Sorry to hear about the rejection of assembly nomination form of Sarjan Barkati from Zainpora. Election Commissioner must make the reasons public for this decision. Democracy is a battle of ideas and everyone should be given a chance to participate in it."

Jammu and Kashmir's People Conference leader Sajad Lone also took to X to comment on the rejection of Barkati's nomination. He requested the Election Commission to probe the conditions due to which Barkati's form was rejected. 

"The rejection of the election form of Sarjan Barkati is highly condemnable. This family has gone through a terrible time. Both Barkati Sahib and his wife are behind the bars. I request the election commission to investigate the conditions and the context in which the form was rejected. Election cannot be an exclusive luxury. That defeats the whole purpose of elections," Lone tweeted.