The top brass of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday faced a piquant situation following a strong backlash from a section of party workers soon after the party released a list of 44 candidates for the upcoming Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir.

However, the original list of candidates was swiftly withdrawn by the party and a trimmed-down list of 16 candidates for the first round of polling was released again to pacify the angry workers who held a protest at its headquarters in Jammu and claimed "parachute candidates" were picked over hardworking workers.

Three former MLAs and a woman candidate, Shagun Parihar, whose father Ajeet Parihar and uncle Anil Parihar were gunned down by terrorists in Kishtwar district in November 2018 figured in the list of 16 candidates.

The party had earlier dropped names of former Cabinet Ministers, a Deputy Chief Minister, and other non-performing MLAs facing a high degree of anti-incumbency in their respective constituencies.

Ironically, the same list also included the names of all those leaders who joined the BJP after dumping their respective parties. Meanwhile, the party's high command went into a huddle in New Delhi and reviewed the fast-paced developments taking place in Jammu, a strong bastion of BJP. This was necessitated as several workers threatened to work against the party in the polls starting September 18, warning that their votes would go against the party thereby weakening its position.

The first list, which caused a flutter, was cleared by the National Election Committee under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi late on Sunday night.

The meeting was also attended by BJP President JP Nadda, Home Minister Amit Shah, General Secretary (Organisation) BL Santosh, and other members of the Central Election Committee who deliberated on the names during the two-hour-long meeting in New Delhi.

As the list was made public via the social media handles of the party early on Monday morning a high-voltage drama unfolded at the State party headquarters in Jammu much to the chagrin of the party's high command.

Several senior party leaders, present in the office, were surrounded by slogan-shouting supporters of leaders left out of the list.

"I have been working for the party for the last 18 years and was expecting a ticket, but the list of 44 candidates showed the party has chosen retired police officer Mohan Lal Bhagat, who joined BJP just two days ago. I have worked tirelessly to bring people into the party fold," Jagdish Bhagat, former president of SC Morcha told reporters here at the party headquarters.

Welcoming the withdrawal of the initial list, Bhagat said, "We hope that committed and long-serving party leaders would be given preference over those who have done nothing for the party."

"If they ignore us, there will be serious consequences. We will not allow any wrongdoing and will protest against this injustice within the party," Bhagat said.

Many workers were also seen protesting at the BJP office demanding a ticket for Omi Khajuria from the Jammu North constituency. In the withdrawn list, the BJP had fielded former Congress leader Sham Lal Sharma from this seat.

"We have been associated with the BJP since we attained the voting age. The party has overlooked Omi Khajuria, a popular leader in Jammu North and chosen Sham Lal Sharma.

In the original list, the party had dropped senior leaders, including former Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh and former ministers Sat Paul Sharma, Bali Bhagat, Priya Sethi and Sham Lal Choudhary and Sukhnandan Choudhary.

The list also included the names of several ex-MLAs and ex-Ministers including those of Sunil Sharma, D.S. Rana, S.S. Salathia, Shakti Raj Parihar, Sham Lal Sharma, Chander Prakash Ganga, Syed Mushtaq Bukhari and Balwant Singh Mankotia and many new faces including Veer Saraf, Showkat Gayoor, Yudhvir Sethi and Shagun Parihar. Ex-MLC of PDP Murtaza Khan and APNI Party candidate Zulfikar Ali were also on this list.

Addressing the concerns raised by the agitated workers and leaders, Ravinder Raina, president of the BJP's Jammu and Kashmir unit, said he would have one-on-one talks with everyone.

"Every problem can be resolved through dialogue. The party is like a family where it does not matter who gets the mandate as "we believe in the nation first, party second and self last".