Why J-K BJP chief Raina anticipates a tough battle for Nowshera

Jammu and Kashmir Bharatiya Janata Party chief Ravinder Raina, seeking re-election from Nowshera assembly constituency of Rajouri district in Jammu and Kashmir, is facing a major challenge from his former party colleague Surinder Choudhary.

A former MLC, Choudhary is fighting the elections on a National Conference ticket and enjoys the Congress support.

There are three more candidates in the fray from the Nowshera constituency, including from the People's Democratic Party and the Bahujhan Samaj Party.

The Nowshera constituency is among the 11 assembly segments in Rajouri, Poonch and Reasi districts in Jammu region going to polls in the second phase along with 15 seats of central Kashmir districts of Srinagar, Ganderbal and Budgam on September 25.

A total of 239 candidates are left in the final poll fray from these 26 constituencies.

Among the 79 contestants in the second phase from Jammu, there are 28 independents including two ex-ministers, a former judge and two women candidates.

The contest will also witness relatives fighting against each other from two seats and some turncoats including two former ministers -- Choudhary Zulfikar Ali and Syed Mushtaq Ahmad Bukhari.

All eyes are set on the Nowshera seat which was won by Raina in the 2014 assembly polls when he defeated his nearest rival Surinder Choudhary, then a PDP member, by over 9,500 votes.

It was for the first time that the BJP won from the seat.

Nowshera had traditionally remained a Congress bastion winning it for eight consecutive terms from 1962 to 2002 before losing the seat to the NC in the 2008 elections.

Choudhary quit the PDP in March 2022 and joined the BJP within a week.

However, he left the BJP and joined the NC on July 7 next year, levelling serious allegations of "corruption and familism" against Raina who responded by serving him a defamation notice for "baseless allegations with the sole aim to defame my reputation within the party and the masses".

In Budhal (ST), the main contest is expected between BJP's Choudhary Zulfkar Ali and his nephew and NC candidate Javed Choudhary.

Ali, a former minister, had won the seat twice in 2008 and 2014 elections on PDP ticket before joining Altaf Bukhari-led Apni Party in 2020.

He joined the BJP just before the party announced its first list of candidates for the J&K polls.

The BSP and PDP had also fielded their candidates for the seat.

The fight in Sunderbani-Kalakote is between Thakur Randhir Singh (BJP) and Yasuvardhan Singh (NC) who are brother and son of former NC MLA Rashpal Singh respectively.

There are nine other contestants in the fray including a woman candidate Pinty Devi and PDP's Majid Hussain Shah -- a lone Muslim face from the seat.

A triangular contest is on the cards in Rajouri (ST) among Vibodh Gupta (BJP), Iftikhar Ahmad (Congress) and independent candidate Mian Mahfooz, a prominent spiritual leader. PDP's Tasadiq Hussain and four others are also trying their luck from there.

Gupta's candidature initially triggered a revolt with former MP and minister Choudhary Talib Hussain jumping the fray as a rebel candidate but later withdrew his candidature.

In Thanamdni (ST), a multi-cornered contest is likely among six contestants including former minister Shabir Khan (Congrss), former MLA Qamar Choudhary (PDP), retired bureaucrat Iqbal Malik (BJP) and former judge and NC rebel Muzaffar Ahmad Khan.

In Surankote (ST) constituency of Poonch district, former minister Syed Mushtaq Ahmad Bukhari, who joined the BJP in February after the Centre granted ST status to his Pahari community, is facing challenge from Shahnawaz Choudhary (Congress) and NC rebel Choudhary Akram who had won the seat in 2014 assembly polls. There are five other candidates including PDP's Javaid Iqbal contesting from the seat.

Among nine contestants in Mendhar (ST), NC leader Javed Rana who had won the seat in 2002 and 2014 elections is locked in a three-cornered contest with PDP's Nadeem Khan, son of former MLA Rafeeq Khan, and Murtaza Khan, a former MLC who joined the BJP last month.

Eight candidates are contesting in Poonch-Haveli seat but the main contest is expected between former MLAs Aijaz Jan (NC) and Shah Mohammad Tantray (Apni Party). The BJP has fielded Choudhary Abdul Gani, also a new entrant to the party.

The three assembly segments of Reasi including the newly created Shri Mata Vaishno Devi seat are likely to witness interesting battle with two former Congress ministers fighting as Independents this time.

Former minister Jugal Kishore Sharma, who joined Ghulam Nabi Azad-led DPAP in September 2022, is fighting as an Independent from Vaisho Devi seat after he was denied ticket by the Congress despite expressing his desire to return to the party.

While the Congress has fielded Bhupinder Jamwal from the seat, former MLA and senior BJP leader and former MLA Baldev Raj Sharma's presence makes it a triangular contest even as the total number of candidates in the fray from the seat is seven.

The BJP overcame a rebellion by the party workers after it initially announced Rohit Dubey as its candidate before withdrawing the list.

Former minister Aijaz Khan, who shifted from the Congress to the Apni Party in 2022, is also fighting as an independent candidate from Gulabgarh (ST) and is facing challenge from NC's Khursheed Ahmad and new entrant to BJP Akram Khan. Aijaz Khan had won Gool-Arnas constituency three times in 2002, 2008 and 2014.

A direct contest is expected between former MLA Mumtaz Khan (Congress) and Kuldeep Raj Dubey (BJP) from Reasi constituency, where a total of seven candidates including independent woman candidate Diksha Kaluria are in the fray.