JAMMU: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will hold a core group meeting at its Jammu headquarters on Saturday to discuss candidates for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections to four seats from Jammu and Kashmir, scheduled for October 24.
BJP spokesperson Girdhari Lal Raina said the meeting will be chaired by the party’s national general secretary and J&K in-charge Tarun Chugh. While refusing to comment on possible nominees, Raina confirmed that the meeting will deliberate on issues of importance, including the polls.
Party sources indicated that the names of former J&K BJP chief Ravinder Raina, former deputy CM Nirmal Singh, and a senior woman leader are among those likely to be discussed.
The meeting will also review the prevailing political situation in J&K and strategize for the forthcoming Assembly bypolls in Nagrota and Budgam.
According to the Election Commission, the last date for filing nominations is October 13, while polling and counting will be held on October 24.
The four Rajya Sabha seats have remained vacant since February 2021, after the terms of MPs Mir Mohammad Fayaz, Shamsher Singh, Ghulam Nabi Azad, and Nazir Ahmed Laway ended. At the time, J&K was under President’s Rule with no Assembly in place.
The newly elected Jammu and Kashmir Assembly, formed in November last year following the Union Territory’s first Assembly elections since its creation in 2019, will now vote in the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls.
