Nomination of three candidates rejected, 23 found valid for Jammu Lok Sabha seat

Jammu, Apr 6 (PTI) The nomination of three candidates were rejected during scrutiny of papers for Jammu Lok Sabha constituency on Saturday, leaving 23 candidates in the fray, officials said. The Lok Sabha polls in Jammu constituency will be held in the second phase of elections on April 26.

Returning Officer for Jammu parliamentary constituency Sachin Kumar Vaishya, conducted the scrutiny of nomination papers submitted by the candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, they said. After thorough scrutiny, the nomination forms of 23 candidates were found valid, while the candidature of three candidates, two covering candidates – Chanranjeet Chargotra (BSP) and Indra Bhalla (Congress) – and Independent Ravinder Singh, were rejected as per norms, the officials said.

A covering candidate is fielded as a back up by parties in case the main nominee’s papers get rejected by the returning officer.

Among the 23 candidates, BJP’s incumbent MP Jugal Kishore and Raman Bhalla of Congress are engaged in a direct fight. Kishore is looking for a hat-trick of wins after he successfully retained the Jammu Lok Sabha seat in the 2014 and 2019 polls. Jagdish Raj of Bahujan Samaj Party and Ankur Sharma of Ekam Sanatan Bharat Dal are the other prominent candidates from the seat. As per the issued election notification, the candidates can withdraw their nomination before 3 pm on April 8 in the office of the returning officer.