Nine more candidates filed their nomination papers from Jammu Lok Sabha constituency on Thursday, taking the total number of contestants for the seat to 26.

"On the last day of filing nomination papers, nine candidates today submitted their nomination papers from the Jammu Lok Sabha constituency for the second phase of parliamentary elections scheduled to be held in Jammu and Kashmir on April 26," an official spokesperson said.

The candidates who filed nomination papers in the office of the Returning Officer on Thursday include Naresh Kumar Talla from Jai Prakash Janta Dal, Qari Zaheer Abbas Bhatti from All India Forward Bloc, and Naresh Kumar Chib from Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party (Bhim).

Indra Bhalla, substitute candidate from Indian National Congress, and Independent candidates C D Sharma, Satish Poonchi, Vicky Kumar Dogra, Perseen Singh and Ravinder Singh also submitted their nomination papers.

61-year-old MP Jugal Kishore Sharma and Congress candidate Raman Bhalla already filed their nominations from the Jammu seat.

Congress's Bhalla, who served several times as a Union minister, is engaged in a direct fight with BJP's Sharma who is looking for a hat-trick of wins as a BJP MP after he successfully retained the Jammu Lok Sabha seat in the 2014 and 2019 polls.

With the filing of nomination papers by these nine candidates, the total number of persons who have filed their candidature for the Jammu seat to 26, the spokesperson said.

Thursday (April 4) was the last day of filing nominations. The nomination papers will be scrutinised on April 6 and the candidates can withdraw their nomination on April 8.

The constituency is going to polls on April 26.