The BJP released the first list for the Jammu and Kashmir elections, withdrew it soon after, then announced two revised lists with only 16 names.

The BJP on Monday (August 26) released two revised lists in quick succession after withdrawing the first list in which it had named 44 candidates for the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections. The party has now named a total of 16 candidates – 15 in the first revised list and only one in the second – for the first phase.

The initial list had names of 15 candidates for the first phase, 10 for the second phase and 19 for the third phase. But, the names of the second and third phase candidates were removed in the first revised list, and now the second list has only one name.

The party has included Kashmir constituencies like Pampore, Shopian, Anantnag West, Anantnag and Kokarnag (ST) in its revised lists. In the last assembly elections held in 2014, when Jammu and Kashmir was a full-fledged state, the BJP won 25 seats. The party – in alliance with the National Conference – is doing its best to fend off a resurgent Congress challenge – particularly in the Jammu region, which has been a BJP stronghold since 2014.

The BJP Central Election Committee held a meeting on Sunday evening (August 25) to finalize the party's candidates for the polls. Elections in the Union Territory are going to be held in three phases on September 18, September 25 and October 1. The counting of votes is scheduled to take place on October 4.

Here are the names of the candidates in both the lists.

Phase 1

Pampore: Syed Shaukat Ghayur Andrabi

Rajpura: Arshad Bhatt

Shopian: Javed Ahmed Qadri

Anantnag West: Muhammad Rafiq Wani

Anantnag: Syed Wazahat

Sri Gufwara-Bujbahara: Sufi Yusuf

Shangs-Anantnag East: Veer Saraf

Interior: Tariq Kane

Kishtwar: Sushri Shagan Parihar

Peter Nagsini: Sunil Sharma

Bhadrawah: Dilip Singh Parihar

Doda: Gajay Singh Rana

Duda West: Shakti Raj Parihar

Ramban: Rakesh Thakur

Maintenance: Slam Bit

Kokernag (ST): Chaudhry Roshan Hussain Gujjar