Less than a week after general elections were announced, state Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) has sent a list of prospective candidates from the Valley for party high command’s approval.
The list comprises three candidates each for the threeconstituencies in northern, southern and central Kashmir—Surender Ambardar, AliMuhammad Dar and Sheikh Abdul Rashid for Srinagar; GM Mir, Muhammad Anwar Khanand MM War for Baramulla and Sofi Yusuf, Muhammad Rafiq Wani and Ghulam NabiDar for Anantnag seats.
Threenames will be picked by the party high command for the three seats.
In the last Assembly elections, BJP’s vote share was morethan any other party in the state—the party’s 23% was higher than PDP’s 22.7%,NC’s 20.8% and Congress’ 18%.
“We have improved our position in Kashmir and emergedas a relevant political group in the state,” a local BJP leader said.
“We are hopeful of a breakthrough in Kashmir this time,” hesaid and added, “A lot of more people have opted for BJP. We have also madeadvances in Kashmir by winning 100 wards in the Valley in Urban Local Bodieselections.”