J&K Election: BJP To Skip Contesting 28 Seats In Kashmir Valley As 'Tactical Move,' Leaving Party Workers Disappointed

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) decided to contest only 19 of the 47 assembly seats in the Kashmir valley in the upcoming three-phase elections for the Union Territory (UT) starting on 18 September.

Since Thursday (12 September) is the last date for nomination filing for the third phase of the elections, the BJP announced that it will not announce any more candidate names and will skip 28 seats in the valley.

The announcement comes even after Union Home Minister Amit Shah declared that the party would contest all the 90 assembly seats in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K).

The decision has displeased senior party leaders who were already accusing the BJP of "ignoring their sacrifices" as they 'stood for the party when no one would (in the Valley).'

"Many of us are already hurt and angry. When it was time to reward us, the party didn’t trust us. They either skipped the seats or fielded candidates who are new to the party," a senior leader told Indian Express.

Notably, the BJP had skipped contesting all three seats in the valley in the Lok Sabha polls but Shah had regretted this and urged the party workers to prepare for all 90 assembly seats.

There was no official explanation provided for the BJP's change of stance. However, party insiders said the decision was a "tactical move" as it does not expect "any miracles" in the valley.

The party's final list of 19 candidates in Kashmir includes eight from the 16 Assembly seats in South Kashmir, six from the 15 seats in Central Kashmir, and five from the 16 seats in North Kashmir.