PM Narendra Modi and Amit Shah convene at Party Panel to Select J&K Election Candidates.

The BJP is currently focused on countering the resurgence of the Congress party. This is evident as the committee recently convened to finalized the party’s candidates for the upcoming assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir, which is set to take place after a decade. It is expected that the final list of candidates will be announced on Monday. During the meeting, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief JP Nadda, along with other CEC members including Home Minister Amit Shah, discussed the matter with party leaders from the Union Territory.

Previously, local leaders held a lengthy meeting with Nadda, Shah, and others to narrow down the list of potential candidates. This meet also involved a strategy session. In these upcoming assembly polls, the BJP is not aligning with any strong local pre-poll alliance. However, sources have revealed that the party will offer support to regional parties and independent candidates.

These assembly polls are scheduled to begin in September, held in three phases. Congress general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala criticized the BJP for its comments regarding the alliance between the Congress and Omar Abdullah’s National Conference. Surjewala accused the BJP of hypocrisy, highlighting that the BJP has previously allied with both the National Conference and Mehbooba Mufti’s People’s Democratic Party. In the previous 2014 election, when Jammu and Kashmir was a full-fledged state, the BJP secured 25 seats and formed a government in alliance with the PDP.

However, this alliance collapsed in 2018, resulting in the state coming under President’s Rule. The revocation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status in 2019 split the state into two Union Territories. The upcoming 90-member assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir will take place in three phases on September 18, 25, and October 1, with the vote count occurring on October 4. Looking ahead, the next BJP CEC meeting is scheduled for August 29 to strategize for the Haryana polls, where the BJP encounters a strong challenge from the Congress, as it has been in power since 2014.