Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Election 2024: India's newest Union Territory is headed to elections in three phases. With just a fortnight remaining for the Jammu and Kashmir polls, BJP is facing challenges on multiple fronts. Among the top of its list of problems is the discontent brewing among senior party leaders. The Bharatiya Janata Party has been hit by multiple back-to-back resignations by senior party leaders. Moreover, anger among the 'old guard' for being purportedly sidelined is not helping the BJP either.
Party spokesperson Abhijeet Jasrotia termed the discontentment as "personal ambitions", and said these must be put aside for peace.
The 'Kashmir Problem' For BJP
Among other problems, the BJP's decision to go solo but unofficially back independents has caused a sense of unease among its loyalists. The Bharatiya Janata Party not fielding candidates in eight out of 16 seats in the Kashmir Valley has also caused anger among the party leaders. So far, only one candidate has been named for the Kashmir region.
In South Kashmir, which was once a region known for militancy, the BJP has not fielded any candidate. These South Kashmir seats are Pulwama, Kulgam, Zainapora, Devsar, DH Pora, Dooru, Tral, and Pahalgam. All these seats will go to polls in the first phase on September 18.
Despite its troubles, the BJP said on Wednesday, September 4, it was confident of winning the Jammu and Kashmir elections. In Kashmir's context, J&K BJP assembly election in-charge Ram Madhav said: "Leaders who want peace and do not support terrorism will emerge in the Kashmir valley as well."He also hinted at post-poll alliance with "new parties" that are aligned with the BJP's vision of "development".
According to reports, known faces of the BJP in the region have been sidelined are upset with the party for not giving them a chance to fight the polls. A Business Standard report named these leaders — Manzoor Kulgami, Fayaz Ahmad Bhat, Altaf Thakur, Manzoor Ahmad Bhat, and Bilal Ahmad Parray. They are the "old guards" of BJP who have been with the party since the time when joining mainstream politics was nothing short of inviting a threat to one's life.
“We stood for the BJP when joining the mainstream was a taboo in Kashmir, let alone being a part of the BJP. This is the reward they are giving us for our sacrifices,” a BJP leader from South Kashmir was quoted as saying by The Indian Express.
BJP's Resignation Troubles
The BJP has also been hit by simultaneous resignations of party leaders ahead of the polls. First came the resignation of Kanav Sharma, the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha president from Jammu, who left along with his team, citing the party's support to Yudhvir Sethi.
Kanav's resentment stemmed from the BJP granting a ticket to Sethi, who, along with his wife Priya, allegedly engaged in corrupt practices during Priya's stint as J&K's education minister. Kanav was a third-generation BJP member.
Yudhvir Sethi's candidature from the Jammu East seat brought in the resignation of another third-generation BJP leader Chander Mohan Sharma. "I gave this party (BJP) my blood, youth and time. I always fought on the frontlines during every struggle. No one can point fingers at me and say that either me or my family took any undue advantage of the party. I am the third generation in my family to be associated with this party. I am much more qualified than many of the other people who have been given the mandate," he said, while hinting that he would contest as an independent.
Next, former BJP Samba president Kashmira Singh resigned after being denied a ticket. The Samba Assembly seat ticket was given to turncoat from National Conference Surjit Singh Slathia.
When BJP gave the Pampore ticket to Syed Showkat Gayoor Andrabi, its lone District Development Council member from Pulwama Minha Lateef resigned.
Resignations aside, the BJP is facing party workers' dissent in several constituencies like Jammu North, Jammu East, Habba Kadal, Mata Vaishno Devi, Paddar, Akhnoor, Nagrota, Budhal, Poonch, Surankote, Chenani, and Reasi. The party has fielded turncoats in all these seats, except Habba Kadal, where Kashmiri Pandit Ashok Bhat hs been fielded by the saffron party.
List of BJP Candidates Named So Far For Jammu & Kashmir Assembly Polls 2024
| Constituency | Candidate | |
| 1 | Pampore | Er. Syed Showkat Gayoor Andrabi |
| 2 | Rajpora | Arshid Bhat |
| 3 | Shopian | Jawed Ahmad Qadri |
| 4 | Anantnag West | Mohd Rafiq Wani |
| 5 | Anantnag | Adv. Syed Wazahat |
| 6 | Srigufwara-Bijbehara | Sofi Yousuf |
| 7 | Shangus-Anantnag East | Veer Saraf |
| 8 | Inderwal | Tariq Keen |
| 9 | Kishtwar | Shagun Parihar |
| 10 | Padder-Nagseni | Sunil Sharma |
| 11 | Bhadarwah | Daleep Singh Parihar |
| 12 | Doda | Gajay Singh Rana |
| 13 | Doda West | Shakti Raj Parihar |
| 14 | Ramban | Rakesh Thakur |
| 15 | Banihal | Salim Bhat |
| 16 | Kokernag | Choudhary Roshan Hussain Gujjar |
| 17 | Habbakadal | Ashok Bhat |
| 18 | Gulabgarh (ST) | Mohammad Akram Chaudhary |
| 19 | Reasi | Kuldeep Raj Dubey |
| 20 | Mata Vaishno Devi | Baldev Raj Sharma |
| 21 | Kalakote-Sunderbani | Thakur Randhir Singh |
| 22 | Budhal (ST) | Chowdhary Zulfikar Ali |
| 23 | Thannamandi (ST) | Mohd. Iqbal Malik |
| 24 | Surankote (ST) | Syed Mushtaq Ahmad Bukhari |
| 25 | Poonch Haveli | Chowdhary Abdul Ghani |
| 26 | Mendhar (ST) | Murtaza Khan |
| 27 | Udhampur West | Pawan Gupta |
| 28 | Chenani | Balwant Singh Mankotia |
| 29 | Ramnagar (SC) | Sunil Bhardwaj |
| 30 | Bani | Jeevan Lal |
| 31 | Bilawar | Satish Sharma |
| 32 | Basohli | Darshan Singh |
| 33 | Jasrota | Rajiv Jasrotia |
| 34 | Hiranagar | Adv Vijay Kumar Sharma |
| 35 | Ramgarh (SC) | Dr Devinder Kumar Maniyal |
| 36 | Samba | Surjit Singh Slathia |
| 37 | Vijaypur | Chandra Prakash Ganga |
| 38 | Suchetgarh (SC) | Gharu Ram Bhagat |
| 39 | R.S. Pura-Jammu South | Dr Narinder Singh Raina |
| 40 | Jammu East | Yudhvir Sethi |
| 41 | Nagrota | Dr Devinder Singh Rana |
| 42 | Jammu West | Arvind Gupta |
| 43 | Jammu North | Sham Lal Sharma |
| 44 | Akhnoor (SC) | Mohan Lal Bhagat |
| 45 | Chhamb | Rajeev Sharma |
| 46 | Lal Chowk | Er. Aijaz Hussain |
| 47 | Eidgah | Arif Raja |
| 48 | Khansahib | Dr. Ali Mohammad Mir |
| 49 | Chrar-i-Sharief | Zahid Hussain |
| 50 | Nowshera | Ravinder Raina |
| 51 | Rajouri (ST) | Vibodh Gupta |
Jammu and Kashmir will conduct polls after a decade. The three-phase election will be held on September 18, September 25, and October 1. The nomination deadline for the first phase closed on August 27. The last date to submit nominations for the phase 2 of the polls in September 5 and the same for phase 3 is September 12. The results of the Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections will be declared on October 4.