Jammu Kashmir Assembly Election 2024: The election campaign is in full swing for 90 assembly seats in Jammu and Kashmir. The first phase of voting will be held on Wednesday. Votes will be cast on 24 seats in the first phase. 219 candidates are in the fray for these seats. BJP is contesting on 16 of these seats. The Congress-National Conference (NC) alliance has fielded candidates for all these seats. In the first phase, the fate of many former ministers, MPs, and MLAs is at stake. Iltija Mufti, daughter of PDP President Mehbooba Mufti, is also in the fray for the first time. There is a triangular or multi-cornered contest on most of the seats. The special thing is that BJP is contesting on all the seats in Jammu but out of 47 seats in the valley, it is contesting only on 19 seats.

BJP is contesting only 19 seats in the valley

BJP's decision to contest only 19 seats in the valley did not go down well with its workers and leaders preparing for the elections. Local BJP leaders are angry with the party's decision of not to field candidates for the remaining seats. Sources say that local leaders hoping to get tickets are confused about their political future. Reports quoted senior BJP leaders as saying that ‘local BJP leaders say that they have given many years of their lives to the party. We joined the BJP at a time when no one was ready to join it. We are sad and angry with this decision of the party. When it came to giving tickets in the elections, the party did not trust us. BJP either left the seat vacant or gave tickets to those who are new.’

Candidates were not fielded as per the strategy.

In response to not fielding candidates on 28 seats, BJP's Jammu and Kashmir spokesperson Altaf Thakur said, 'This election is a test for us. If we get success today, then we will field more candidates in the future. Anyway, we are hopeful that the lotus will bloom in the Kashmir valley and we can win at least seven seats.' Thakur says that fielding candidates on these 28 seats is not a compulsion of the party but a strategy.

So this is the strategy!

Political analysts believe that this time BJP is working on two strategies in Jammu Kashmir. The first strategy is to win all the 43 seats of the Jammu region so that the magic figure of 46 required to form the government can be reached. The second strategy of the saffron party is to weaken the All India Alliance in the valley. BJP believes that if it wins all the seats in Jammu and if the Congress-National Conference alliance loses many seats in the valley, then it will not be able to form the government. In such a situation, it can form the government with the help of independent and regional parties. Sources say that as a part of the strategy, the BJP is helping those independent candidates in the valley to win who can defeat the Congress-National Conference alliance. Let us tell you that voting for all the 90 assembly seats in Jammu Kashmir will be held on October 5 and the results will come on October 8.

Shah will address three public meetings

.Union Home Minister Amit Shah will address three public meetings in Chenab Valley on Monday, the last day of campaigning for the first phase of the Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections. Voting will be held on September 18 in the first phase for 24 assembly seats spread across the Doda, Kishtwar, and Ramban districts of Chenab Valley and Anantnag, Pulwama, Kulgam, and Shopian districts of South Kashmir. BJP spokesperson and media center in-charge Arun Kumar Gupta said, 'The Home Minister will address three public meetings in Ramban, Kishtwar and Padder on September 16.'