The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday appointed leaders who were denied tickets in the Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections to important posts in the party as part of its effort to woo them. According to an official release issued by the party, former minister Sat Sharma has been appointed as the working president, former deputy chief minister Nirmal Singh as the chairman of the election campaign committee and former minister Sukh Nandan as the vice-president while former deputy chief minister Kavinder Gupta has been appointed as the chairman of the election management committee.
BJP has not given ticket to Sat Sharma in this assembly election. He had won from Jammu West assembly seat in 2014. The party has fielded Arvind Gupta in his place from Jammu West seat. Former Legislative Council Member (MLC) Vikram Randhawa has been made the candidate in place of Kavinder Gupta from Bahu seat of Jammu district. Gupta was elected from Gandhinagar in the 2014 elections. It has been renamed as Bahu assembly constituency.
Nirmal Singh, the first deputy chief minister of BJP in the BJP-People’s Democratic Party (PDP) government in Jammu and Kashmir, has also not been given a ticket by the party this time. He was elected from Billawar seat of Kathua district in the 2014 assembly elections. This time the party has fielded Satish Sharma in his place.
The Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections are to be held in three phases, with the first phase voting on September 18, the second phase on September 25 and the third phase on October 1. The BJP has released its sixth list for the third phase of elections and has so far announced the names of 62 candidates, including 20 candidates from the Kashmir Valley, where the BJP is yet to open its account in the assembly elections.
