Kashmir News: BJP will contest on all 90 assembly seats of J&K, says Amit Shah in Srinagar

Union Home Minister Amit Shah has said the (BJP) would contest on all 90  seats of Jammu and Kashmir in the upcoming assembly elections in the Union Territory. Shah, who is on a two-day visit to Srinagar, has urged the saffron party workers to gear up for the contest scheduled later this year.

Shah interacted with state BJP unit delegation at the Lalit Palace hotel in Srinagar on May 16, the first day of his visit. During the interaction, Shah expressed regret about the BJP not contesting the s on the three crucial Lok Sabha seats of Kashmir – Srinagar, Baramulla, and Anatnag-Rajouri, according to. 

The Home Minister is also learnt to have stressed the rank and file of the BJP to ensure dynasty rule of the Jammu and Kashmir (NC), J&K Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) – the two mainstream regional parties—and the Congress was wiped out from the UT.

Shah’s visit comes days after Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency recorded a high voter percentage of , highest since 1996.

The last assembly elections were held in in November-December 2014. The election to the 87-member house saw the PDP winning 28 seats, the BJP bagging 25 seats and the NC getting 15 seats. 

The PDP and BJP formed the government with Mufti Mohammad Sayeed becoming the chief minister. Sayeed passed away in January 2016. His daughter was sworn in as the next CM, after  a brief period of Governor's rule.

In June 2018, the BJP, however, withdrew its support to the PDP-led government and Governor's rule was imposed in Jammu and Kashmir. In August 2019, and the erstwhile state was divided into two UTs- Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

In December last year, the directed the Election Commission to conduct the Assembly polls in the UT by September 2024.

The regional political