J&K polls: BJP withdraws first list of candidates
What's the story
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has withdrawn its initial list of 44 candidates for the upcoming three-phase Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections.
The list, which was released earlier on Monday, was later removed with party sources indicating that a revised version is expected shortly.
The first draft did not include several prominent figures such as Jammu and Kashmir BJP president Ravinder Raina, and former Deputy Chief Ministers Nirmal Singh and Kavinder Gupta.
Context
Why does this story matter?
The upcoming Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections are set to be a three-way battle between the BJP, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and an alliance of the National Conference and the Congress.
The last Assembly election in 2014 saw a surprise alliance government formed by the BJP and the PDP.
This year's voting will take place in three phases on September 19, 25, and October 1 with results being announced on October 4.
Candidate details
Notable inclusions and exclusions in BJP's initial list
The initial list did include Devendra Rana, Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh's brother who recently left the National Conference to join the BJP.
Additionally, two Kashmiri Pandits and 14 Muslim candidates were named.
Several former leaders from the Congress, the National Conference, the PDP and the Panthers Party who had switched allegiances to the BJP were also included in this now-withdrawn list.
Alliance challenges
Congress, National Conference yet to finalize seat-sharing
The Congress and the National Conference are still working out their seat-sharing agreement.
Senior Congress leaders KC Venugopal and Salman Khurshid have been dispatched to Srinagar to facilitate negotiations between the National Conference and local Congress leadership.
Earlier, an alliance was announced following a meeting between Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, and National Conference president Farooq Abdullah along with vice-president Omar Abdullah.
Seat allocation
Seat-sharing deadlock between NC and Congress
According to sources, the National Conference has proposed to allocate five seats to the Congress in the Kashmir Valley and between 28-30 seats in the Jammu region.
However, this offer has been met with resistance from the Congress as it seeks more representation, including in areas traditionally dominated by the National Conference.
The possibility of a friendly contest on some contested seats was suggested by the NC but rejected by local Congress leaders.