Ravinder Raina Emerging as BJP’s Potential Pick for Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha Seat

Candidates urge Election Commission to defer Anantnag polls to later stage in view of inclement weather

Democratic Progressive Alliance Party (DPAP) chairperson Ghulam Nabi Azad backing out of the race for high-profile Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha constituency has set the ball rolling for more politicking, with speculations being rife that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) may field local unit chief Ravinder Raina from the constituency.

BJP sources in New Delhi told HT that Azad’s exit prompted the party high command to mull over Raina’s candidature. “The candidature of Ravinder Raina is being mulled for the Anantnag seat. However, the final call is yet to be taken,” sources said.

Notably, the BJP top brass including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah were until this point focusing on Udhampur and Jammu Lok Sabha constituencies falling in the Jammu region and had dropped enough hints about not contesting the three seats of Kashmir.

The last date of filing nomination for the Anantnag Lok Sabha constituency is April 19. Shah had appealed to the people of Kashmir not to vote for the three dynastic parties, saying, “They watch the interests of their own flesh and blood and not the public”.

“Farooq Sahib, Mehbooba ji and Sonia Gandhi… they work for their sons and daughters, not for the people. These parties did not allow democracy to grow in Jammu and Kashmir… on the pretext of security, our Kashmiri youths were exploited. I want to ask (National Conference president) Farooq Abdullah and the PDP under whose rule did most of the fake encounters take place? Who fired on the children of Kashmir, handed over guns to them? These three parties are responsible,” he had said.

Meanwhile, political parties in the wake of heavy snowfall on Mughal Road have requested the Election Commission to conduct elections to Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha seat either in sixth or the seventh phase on May 26 or June 1.

“The Mughal Road is blocked due to heavy snowfall in the past three days and the returning officer sits in Anantnag. So, it is not possible for candidates to reach there from Rajouri,” advocate Syed Zeeshan, who is looking to contest as an independent, said.

A senior BJP leader from Jammu and Kashmir, who declined to be named, also agreed that the heavy snowfall has snapped connectivity between Rajouri and Mughal Road. “In view of inclement weather, the Election Commission is requested to reconsider and defer the Anantnag polls to the sixth or seventh phase,” he said.