BJP Faces Rebellion In Nagrota; Congress-NC Field Common Candidate 

The Nagrota assembly constituency, which will go to the polls on November 11, has witnessed a rebellion within the BJP. The National Conference (NC) and Congress have formed an alliance and jointly fielded a common candidate, who will also rely on Muslim votes to secure the seat.idates are in the fray, but the primary contest is expected among BJP’s Devyani Rana, NC’s Shamim Begum, Harsh Dev Singh of the Panthers Party (India), and BJP rebel independent Anil Sharma. Counting is on November 14. The by-elections follow the demise of BJP MLA Devender Singh Rana, Devyani's father.

Shamim Begum

Shamim Begum, 37, a  District Development Council (DDC) member, was nominated as a candidate by the National Conference (NC) for the seat after the Congress party decided not to put up a candidate, citing its rift with the NC for not sparing a seat in the Rajya Sabha elections, on which it could have won the polls. Shamim, who holds a Master's degree in Urdu, joined the electoral fray to contest the DDC elections on the NC ticket five years ago. She says that this was the first time she had contested the assembly polls and has pledged development in the constituency. 

“During the ten years of BJP rule, when the National Conference was out of power, like the rest of the Union Territory (UT), the constituency lagged behind in development,” says Shamim. 

She vows to work for addressing the problems of all the people in the constituency, irrespective of their religious identity. 

“In the last DDC elections, people from both the Hindu and Muslim communities cast votes in my favour,” she says.  “The number of Muslim voters has now reduced to 24,000 in the constituency due to the delimitation exercise, but I am banking on the support of all communities to win the elections.”

Devyani Rana

Devyani Rana, 30, has entered the electoral fray following the demise of her father, Devendar Singh Rana, who was elected on the BJP ticket from the same seat in 2024. Prior to that, Rana was an MLA on the NC ticket from the constituency in 2014.

Rana has vowed to maintain the developmental momentum that was witnessed during her father’s term.  The young politician is, however, also facing rebellion from within the BJP, with the party’s former leader,  Anil Sharma, contesting as an independent candidate for the seat after he was denied the ticket. Sharma has focused his campaign against Devyani, whose candidature, he says, has promoted nepotism and dynastic rule. 

“What kind of politics is it that if your father is a Minister or MLA, you have the birthright to become an MLA. Devyani and all other candidates who are contesting are outsiders; they don’t live in the constituency and have joined the electoral fray only for power,” says Anil, who had started his political career with Congress some twenty-seven years back. He had left the Congress to join the BJP with which he had been associated for over fourteen years. Before he severed his ties with the party, Anil was in charge of its Panchayati Raj Cell and the Border Cell.

“The people of the constituency have faced neglect. It is a common complaint from the people here that leaders come only to seek votes. I will change that, and my fight is against the dynastic rule,” says Anil, who is also the founder of All Jammu and Kashmir Panchayat Conference.

Anil’s name and that of another BJP leader, Nand Kishore Sharma, brother of party MP Jugal Kishore Sharma, were in the panel of candidates for the mandate on the seat, along with Devyani. Nand Kishore, who had lost the 2014 contest for the seat by a narrow margin, securing 19,630 votes against 23,678, which Devender Rana had garnered, says he was hoping that the party would field him as its candidate from the seat. He, however, says that he was not going against the BJP’s decision to field Devyani from the seat. Before his brother became MP from the Jammu parliamentary seat, Jugal had retained the Nagrota assembly for two terms as MLA.

Harsh Dev Singh

Former Minister Harsh Dev Singh is contesting from the seat after his bastion of Ramnagar was reserved for the scheduled caste category. He had won the 2008 election from Ramnagar by securing 30,439 votes, repeating his 2002 victory from the seat. Harsh Dev is contesting on the Panthers Party (India) ticket and faces a direct contest with Shamim, Anil, and Devyani. However, the joining of the Panthers Party (Bhim) group candidate, Naresh Kumar Chib, in the electoral fray can also impact the electoral prospects in the seat. 

The Panthers Party, which had traditionally won three to four seats in the polls in Jammu in the past, witnessed a split following the demise of its founder, Professor Bhim Singh. Naresh, however, says that the group that he represents was the real Panthers party, and its supporters would vote for him.

Naresh says that Harsh Dev had urged NC to field him as a candidate of the India block from the constituency, even when the party is seen to be more concerned about the interests of the Kashmiri people. “Our priority will be to ensure justice to the people, address the issues of farmers, and provide the people with access to education. Our fight is also for the restoration of statehood,” he says.

Another candidate, Bodh Raj, has been fielded by the Apni Party, which is headed by former Minister Altaf Bukhari as its president, and has a stronger vote bank in Kashmir than in Jammu. Bodh Raj’s political career dates back to 1998, when he joined the NC. He later joined Congress, and after the revocation of Article 370, when the Apni Party was formed, he became a part of it.

“Apni party has a good support base in Nagrota, even Bukhari sahib conducted a rally here. We are fighting the elections to ensure the end of neglect faced by the people in terms of development. The roads are in dilapidated condition here, while people also face issues of shortage of safe drinking water and regular power cuts,” he says.