Harsh Dev Singh, Independent’s entry adds spice to contest; BJP eyes to surpass Devender Rana’s record victory margin
Arteev Sharma
Jammu: The Nagrota Assembly constituency is gearing up for an interesting and historic political showdown, as both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the National Conference (NC) have, for the first time, fielded women candidates for the bypoll scheduled for November 11.
The triangular contest, already brimming with political fervour, has been further energised by the unprecedented face-off between two first-time women candidates, signalling a fresh chapter in Nagrota’s political narrative.
While the National Conference is in power and enjoys a solid grassroots presence in Nagrota, the BJP, which won the seat with a thumping victory margin, is making a determined push to retain it—this time aiming to surpass the formidable 30,000-vote lead registered by the former MLA Devender Singh Rana in the last election.
The by-election, scheduled to be conducted by April 20 this year, was necessitated following the death of senior BJP leader and former MLA Devender Singh Rana on October 31, 2024. A total of ten candidates are in the race in this high-stakes contest.
In the last election, Devender Singh Rana, contesting as a BJP candidate, defeated NC’s Joginder Singh alias Kaku by a record 30,472 votes—the highest margin across all 90 Assembly segments. Rana’s grip over the constituency was evident even in 2014, when, contesting as an NC candidate, he defeated BJP’s Nand Kishore Sharma by over 4,000 votes, at a time when the saffron party swept 25 seats across Jammu and Kashmir on the Modi wave.
Nagrota seat has a history of electoral fluctuation—tilting between the NC and the BJP over the past three decades, thereby adding to the intrigue of this contest. The BJP has won it three times (2002, 2008, and 2024), while the NC claimed victory twice (in 1996 and 2014).
Breaking new ground this time, the BJP has fielded a 30-year-old newcomer in electoral politics, Devyani Rana, daughter of the late Devender Singh Rana. A political greenhorn, Devyani’s candidature is viewed as a strategic attempt by the party to retain the emotional connect her father commanded, while presenting a youthful face rooted in local legacy.
In a counter-move, the NC fielded Shamim Begum, an elected District Development Council (DDC) member from Dansal after its coalition partner refused to field its candidate “to protest NC’s betrayal in the recently-held Rajya Sabha elections”. A grassroots leader making her Assembly poll debut, Shamim reveals the party’s effort to tap into the rural and women electorate through a candidate familiar with local issues and governance.
Meanwhile, the entry of former minister Harsh Dev Singh, contesting a Jammu and Kashmir Panthers Party-India (JKNPP-I) mandate, has turned the contest into a three-cornered battle. Singh, who shifted his attention from Chenani—where he lost in the 2024 Assembly polls—has stirred the a political chatter in Nagrota constituency by attracting disenchanted voters from both the BJP and NC, in all four blocks, including Dansal, Nagrota, Mathwar, and Bhalwal.
While the BJP is going all-in, deploying top brass and involving 28 MLAs in an aggressive, door-to-door outreach, the party continues to grapple with internal turbulence. The denial of a ticket to Nand Kishore Sharma, who unsuccessfully contested from the seat in the 2014 elections against Devender Singh Rana, has resulted in internal discontent. In addition, Anil Sharma, president of the All Jammu and Kashmir Panchayat Conference, has entered the contest as an Independent, threatening to eat into the BJP’s core vote bank.
On the other hand, the NC’s campaign has so far remained a relatively low-key affair. Except for Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary’s intermittent appearances, the party’s top brass is yet to fully activate its organisational machinery. Observers, however, expect the NC’s traditional cadre to mobilize in the days ahead, particularly in the rural belts, lending crucial momentum to Shamim Begum’s campaign.
Observers feel that the Nagrota bypoll is all set to be one of the most interesting electoral battles in Jammu and Kashmir political history, with women candidates leading from the front, old caste equations at play, leader-centric loyalties being tested, and splinter candidates splitting votes.
