J-K: AAP announces candidates for Budgam, Nagrota assembly bypolls

New Delhi [India], October 18 (ANI): The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Saturday announced its candidates for the upcoming bye-elections to two Assembly constituencies in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
According to an official release, the AAP's Political Affairs Committee (PAC) has approved the candidature of Deeba Khan from the Budgam constituency, while Joginder Singh has been fielded from the Nagrota seat.
The bye-elections for the Nagrota and Budgam assembly constituencies will take place on November 11, with the results to be declared on November 14.
The bye-elections on the Budgam seat were facilitated by the resignation of Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, while the same on the Nagrota seat were facilitated by the death of MLA Devender Singh Rana.
On October 6, the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced that by-elections for eight assembly constituencies across seven states and Union Territories will take place on November 11.
At present, AAP has one elected representative in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly, Mehraj Malik, who represents the Doda constituency. With these bypolls, the party is aiming to expand its political footprint in the region.
Meanwhile, the polls for four Rajya Sabha seats of Jammu and Kashmir will be held on October 24. All four Rajya Sabha seats in Jammu and Kashmir have been vacant since February 2021, after the retirement of Ghulam Nabi Azad, Mir Mohammad Fayaz, Shamsher Singh, and Nazir Ahmed Laway.
Jammu and Kashmir National Conference has announced the names of candidates for three seats. The party named Chowdry Mohamad Ramzan, Sajjad Ahmad Kichloo, and Shammi Oberoi as its candidates, with the decision on the fourth seat expected to be made in the coming days.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) announced the names of three candidates for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections in the Union Territory. The party named Gulam Mohammad Mir, Rakesh Mahajan and Sat Sharma as its candidates.
Sat Paul Sharma is serving his second term as the BJP's Jammu and Kashmir President, having previously led the state unit from 2015 to 2018 and served as a cabinet minister in the government led by former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti.
Rakesh Mahajan is Vice-President of the state's BJP unit. Gulam Mohammad Mir was the BJP candidate from the Handwara Assembly constituency in last year's J-K Assembly elections. He suffered a loss against the National Conference's Sajjad Gani Lone. (ANI)