Jammu, Feb 15: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) high command is likely to introduce fresh candidates for the three Lok Sabha seats in the Union Territory (UT) of Jammu & Kashmir in the forthcoming 2024 Parliamentary elections. These seats include Jammu-Reasi, Udhampur-Doda, and the newly formed Rajouri-Poonch-Anantnag Lok Sabha constituency.
In a move akin to its strategies in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh (MP), the BJP plans to nominate fresh faces from its organizational ranks for all three Lok Sabha seats, sources within the party informed Rising Kashmir.
Former Deputy Chief Minister, Kavinder Gupta, said, “This is very much a possibility that fresh faces from the party’s organization would be fielded by the BJP in the upcoming 2024 Parliamentary elections for all 3 seats.”
While sources indicate that the high command is leaning towards selecting new candidates from the party’s organization, it’s worth noting that presently, the BJP holds two Lok Sabha seats in the Jammu region, with Dr Jitendra Singh representing Kathua-Udhampur-Doda and Jugal Kishore Sharma from Jammu-Poonch Lok Sabha seat.
Sources suggest that the BJP intends to engage these former MPs in the upcoming Assembly elections by assigning them different responsibilities.
Meanwhile, within the J&K BJP, a competitive environment has emerged as members vie for Lok Sabha seats. J&K BJP President, Ravinder Raina, along with Vibodh Gupta, is eyeing the Rajouri-Poonch-Anantnag seat, with Raina being the front runner.
For the Udhampur-Doda Lok Sabha seat, BJP General Secretary Sunil Sharma is considered a leading contender, given his role as the party’s in-charge for Kashmir Affairs and his prior ministerial experience in the BJP-PDP government.
The race for the Jammu-Reasi Lok Sabha seat is equally interesting, with several BJP heavyweights actively lobbying the party high command for their nomination. Notable figures in contention include former Deputy Chief Ministers Dr Nirmal Singh and Kavinder Gupta, former JMC Mayor Rajinder Sharma, and former cabinet ministers Sat Sharma and Sham Lal Sharma, who joined the BJP after departing from the Congress Party and served as a cabinet minister in the Congress-PDP government.
