Ending all speculation and rumours, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday announced Devyani Rana as its candidate for the upcoming by-election to the prestigious Nagrota Assembly constituency.
The party has also nominated Aga Syed Mohsin as its candidate for the Budgam Assembly seat.
The names of both candidates were cleared by the BJP's Central Election Committee (CEC) and made public through an official release issued from the party headquarters in New Delhi today.
Pertinently, Devyani Rana is the daughter of the late Devender Singh Rana, who earlier represented the Nagrota constituency, while Aga Syed Mohsin is a senior BJP leader from Budgam.
Realizing the strong sympathy wave in favour of Devyani Rana following her father's demise, the BJP decided to give her the party mandate to retain the seat. Although two other BJP leaders — Nand Kishore Sharma and Anil Sharma — were also staking claims to the ticket, the party preferred the young and politically new Devyani Rana to capitalize on the prevailing sympathy factor.
Since her father's death, Devyani Rana has been working assiduously in the Nagrota constituency. In January this year, she was appointed vice-president of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) for Jammu and Kashmir — a move widely seen as part of the effort to continue her father's political legacy.
Nagrota Seat Fell Vacant After Demise of Devender Singh Rana
The Nagrota Assembly seat fell vacant following the demise of Devender Singh Rana, who had won the segment with the highest margin across Jammu and Kashmir during the 2024 Assembly elections. Unfortunately, before taking the oath as MLA, Rana passed away on October 31, 2024, at the age of 59.
He was the brother of Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh and had been undergoing treatment in a hospital prior to his death.
Rana transitioned from business to politics, building a successful multi-crore enterprise from scratch before entering public life. A strong advocate for the Dogra community of Jammu, he had recently been re-elected to the Assembly from Nagrota for a second term.
His political journey began with the National Conference (NC), where he emerged as a key strategist and advisor. As the Provincial President of NC, he played a significant role in expanding the party's base in the Jammu region. A close aide of Omar Abdullah, he was instrumental in shaping the party's strategies for the region.
In his debut Assembly election in 2014, Rana contested from Nagrota — then considered a BJP stronghold — and created an upset by defeating Nand Kishore Sharma, the brother of BJP stalwart and Lok Sabha member Jugal Kishore Sharma, thereby securing the seat for the National Conference.
CEC announces bypolls for Nagrota and Budgam
On October 6, the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced the schedule for by-elections to the Nagrota and Budgam Assembly seats in Jammu and Kashmir, along with the Bihar Assembly elections.
Addressing a press conference, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar informed that polling for the two seats in J&K will be held on November 11, while counting of votes will take place on November 14.
The Budgam seat fell vacant after Chief Minister Omar Abdullah vacated it to retain the Ganderbal seat, having won from both constituencies in the 2024 Assembly elections. The Nagrota seat became vacant following the death of BJP leader Devender Singh Rana on October 31 last year.
