Is BJP hoping to take advantage of separatists' boycott call in J&K polls?

Srinagar, Nov 11: The BJP, which is eyeing to come to power in

, is banking on separatists to open its account in the Valley in the five-phase assembly polls beginning November 25, a New Indian Express report said on Saturday.

The saffron party has released names of 49 candidates for the 87-member assembly. It has announced names of nine Muslim candidates from the Valley, which has 46 seats.

The BJP, according to the report, is planning to take advantage of the election boycott call given by the separatist groups. The party has analysed the results of the last few elections in Jammu and Kashmir and observed that some seats in the Valley witnessed low turnout due to the separatists' boycott.

According to inside sources in the party, the party is focusing on seats where migrant Kashmiri Pundits have a strong support from which the BJP can gain.

Habbakadal and Amirakadal in Srinagar, Sopore in North Kashmir and Pulwama, Tral and Shopian in South Kashmir are a few of such seats.

Here are the results in these six constituencies in 2008 assembly poll:

Habbakadal: National Conference's (NC) Shamima Firdous won by 1,703 votes [polling percentage: 11.6]

Amirakadal: NC's Nasir Aslam Wani won by 819 votes [polling percentage: 15]

Sopore: NC's Mohd Ashraf Ganie won by 1,064 votes [polling percentage: 20]

Pulwama: NC's Mohd Khalil Bandh won by 6,636 votes [polling percentage: 40.8]

Tral: People's Democratic Party's (PDP) Mushtaq Ahmad Shah won by 3,807 votes [polling percentage: 48.7]

Shopian: PDP's Abdul Razaq Wagay won by 2,798 votes [polling percentage: 52.7]

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