JAMMU: Congress has stepped aside from the Nagrota assembly bypoll in J&K on Nov 11 for governing ally National Conference (NC), citing “the larger goal” of defeating BJP.The decision was taken Monday, the last date to file nominations for the seat where the bypoll was necessitated by the death of its sitting BJP MLA Devender Singh Rana on Oct 31 last year, only three weeks after being elected.Rana’s daughter Devyani is the BJP nominee this time among 12 in the fray that includes Anil Sharma, a party rebel who will contest as an independent.Congress opted out despite being offered the seat by CM Omar Abdullah’s NC. J&K chief Congress (JKPCC) spokesperson Ravinder Sharma stressed the need to counter BJP. “The decision follows detailed deliberations over a JKPCC report and after considering various factors, including that NC had emerged second in Nagrota in the 2024 assembly elections,” Sharma said.The move comes days after strains between the allies over Oct 24 polls for four Rajya Sabha seats from J&K, with Congress claiming it was not offered a “safe” seat and NC finally fielding candidates for all slots.In Nagrota, previous BJP MLA Rana had a good standing and had won last year by over 31,000 votes. BJP has won the seat thrice in all — in 2002, 2008 and 2024. NC came up trumps twice, in 1996 and 2014.This time, the NC has fielded Shamim Begum. She filed her nomination on Monday. Other key contestants include Joginder Thakur of AAP, Qari Zaheer Abbas Bhatti of Forward Bloc and Bodh Raj of Apni Party. BJP rebel Sharma is among five independents.The nominations will be scrutinised on Wednesday, followed by withdrawals, if any, on Friday. Votes will be counted on Nov 14.No candidate has won Nagrota a second time, barring BJP’s Jugal Kishore Sharma, now the Jammu MP. He was elected its MLA in 2002 and 2008.
