Overview

• The Election Commission has scheduled polling for October 24, with nominations due by October 13 and counting the same evening.
• After a core group meeting in Jammu, BJP leaders said the party will enter all four contests and field three candidates, with final names to be cleared by the central leadership.
• Local reports say a BJP panel of probables includes Sat Sharma, Nirmal Singh, Ravinder Raina and Sunil Sethi, though the slate awaits high-command approval.
• The NC says it will contest all four seats and claims it can comfortably secure three, while Congress presses for at least one berth as the NC-led bloc holds about 53 MLAs against the BJP’s 28.
• Because the four vacancies arose across three biennial cycles, the seats will be filled through three separate elections, and the BJP’s decision ensures contests for the first two seats that often went unopposed.