Srinagar/Jammu: National Conference made the day for the INDIA bloc with its grand showing, winning 42 seats, and paving the way for the first elected government in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir with its alliance partners Congress and CPI(M) chipping in six plus one seats.
Together the INDIA bloc secured 49 out of 90 seats on which polls were held for the first time since the abrogation of Article 370 five years ago.
The National Conference (NC), the oldest regional party in J&K, emerged as the clear frontrunner, winning 42 seats and falling just six seats short of a majority of its own.
Meanwhile, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] managed to secure the single seat allotted to it under the seat-sharing agreement, while the Congress party won six seats – interestingly, it won only one seat from the Jammu region.
The BJP also made notable gains, winning 29 seats — its best performance in J&K to date, up from 25 seats in the 2014 elections.
Despite the defeat of J&K BJP president Ravindra Raina, the party’s vote share increased from 23 percent in 2014 to 25.64 percent this year.
However, political analysts do not read much into the increased tally of the BJP and mainly attribute it to the recent delimitation of assembly seats in which many strongholds of the BJP were bifurcated into two like Kishtwar and Nagrota and others in Jammu district.
The NC saw a rise in its vote share as well, improving from 20.77 percent in 2014 to 23.43 percent this election cycle.
In contrast, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) experienced significant losses, winning only three seats compared to 28 in 2014 and witnessing its vote share drop from 22.67 percent to just 8.87 percent.
The Congress also faced a decline, securing only six seats — down from 12 seats a decade ago — with a corresponding drop in vote share from 18 percent to approximately 12 percent.
There are only three women winners — Sakina Masood, Shamima Firdous (both NC) and Shagun Parihar (BJP) — among the 90 successful candidates.
Two NC veterans — Abdul Rahim Rather (Chrar-e-Sharief) and Ali Mohammad Sagar (Khanyar) — have won for the seventh term as MLA in J&K.
Among the other key winners were NC vice-president Omar Abdullah, J&K Congress president Tariq Hamid Karra, JKPC President, Sajad Gani Lone, PDP youth president Waheed Para and BJP leader Devender Rana.
The key losers include former deputy chief minister Muzaffar Hussain Baig (Independent), Apni Party President, Syed Altaf Bukhari, Congress leader Tara Chand, JKPCC working president Raman Bhalla, former JKPCC president Vaqar Rsool Wani and NC provincial president Nasir Aslam Wani.
Omar Abdullah, the likely candidate for the chief minister’s position after winning in both Budgam and Ganderbal, expressed gratitude to the electorate for their support.
“We are committed to serving the people and addressing their concerns in this new mandate,” he stated.
Abdullah said many attempts were made to destroy his party over the last five years by creating new outfits which have been decimated in this election.
“There were attempts to destroy the NC over the last five years. So many parties were created here, whose only aim was to destroy the NC. But, God’s grace has been on us and those who tried to destroy us, have been decimated in the process,” Abdullah told reporters here after receiving his winning certificate from the returning officer for the Budgam seat.
He said the verdict has increased the party’s responsibilities.
Jammu Kashmir Apni Party failed to open its account with its President, Syed Altaf Bukhari losing to NC candidate in Channapora, Ghulam Hassan Mir defeated by NC’s Farooq Ahmad Shah in Gulmarg constituency and Rafi Mir defeated by NC’s Altaf Ahmad from Pahalgam.
PDP president Mehbooba Mufti, while congratulating the NC-Congress alliance for the victory, said the Centre should take a lesson from the decisive verdict of the Jammu and Kashmir assembly polls and “not meddle” in the affairs of the upcoming NC-Congress government.
She said her party would play the role of a constructive opposition.
“I congratulate the NC leadership for its spectacular win. I also want to congratulate the people of J&K for voting for a stable government and not a hung assembly because the people faced several problems especially after August 5, 2019. A stable and strong government is very important for the redressal of those problems,” Mufti told reporters here.
CPI(M) candidate Mohamad Yousuf Tarigami won the assembly election from the Kulgam seat for the fifth consecutive time, defeating former member of banned Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) Sayar Ahmad Reshi by more than 7,800 votes.
Tarigami said the trends showed that the vote of the people is against the central government and its policies.
“The writing is on the wall and the vote of the people is against the BJP government and its policies,” Tarigami told PTI Videos.
The counting of votes began at 8 am at 28 counting centres for the 90 seats of Jammu and Kashmir assembly which went to polls in three phases. (With additional inputs from PTI)
Ex-JKPCC chief Vaqar Rasool, J&K BJP president Ravinder Raina among key losers
Many key candidates and bigwigs, including former ministers, lost the maiden assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370, as the National Conference (NC) emerged the single largest party with 42 seats.
Among the prominent names who lost the polls are former minister and ex-JKPCC president Vaqar Rasool, J&K BJP president Ravinder Raina, former minister and JKPCC working president Raman Bhalla, and former ministers Altaf Bukhari, Usman Majid, Chowdhary Lal Singh, Manohar Lal Sharma, Chowdhary Zulfiqar Ali, Harsh Dev Singh, Ghulam Nabi Lone, Ghulam Hassan Mir, Chowdhary Mohammad Ramzan, and Asiea Naqash.
Ghulam Mohammad Saroori, Hakeem Mohammad Yaseen, Sajad Kichloo, Nasir Aslam Wani, Imran Ansari, Mula Ram, Zahoor Mir, Mohammad Ashraf Mir, Taj Mohiuddin, Syed Basharat Bukhari, and Abdul Gaffar Sofi are the other former ministers who lost the election.
PDP leaders and former MLAs Mohammad Sartaj Madni and Mehboob Beg, Mehbooba Mufti’s daughter Iltija Mufti, Hurriyat leader’s son Aga Syed Muntazir Mehdi, and Awami Ittehad Party candidate from Tral, Harbaksh Singh were the other key candidates who could not win the polls.
Peoples Conference chief Sajad Gani Lone won from Handwara, but lost from Kupwara.
BJP candidates Aijaz Ahmad from Lal Chowk and Faqeer Mohammad Khan from Gurez (ST) — for whom Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh campaigned, respectively, also lost the polls.
Congress leader and former MLA Abdul Rashid Dar, for whom Rahul Gandhi campaigned, also lost from Sopore.
7 independents also emerge victorious
Seven independent candidates have emerged victorious in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly polls, marking an increase from the 2014 elections when three such candidates had won.
Satesh Sharma, who left the Congress and contested as an independent from the Chhamb seat of Jammu region, won the election by defeating BJP candidate Rajeev Sharma with a margin of 6,929 votes. Satesh Sharma, 42, who is son of two-time MP and former Congress minister Madan Lal Sharma, polled 33,985 votes.
Former deputy chief minister and Congress candidate Tara Chand, who had won this seat three times, finished third with 16,449 votes.
In Inderwal, independent candidate Payare Lal Sharma defeated veteran leader Gulam Mohammad Saroori by a narrow margin of 643 votes. Sharma received 14,195 votes, while Saroori, also an independent candidate, secured 13,552 votes. Saroori had previously won this seat twice.
In Bani, independent candidate Dr Rameshwar Singh defeated BJP nominee and former MLA Jewan Lal by 2,048 votes. Singh secured 18,672 votes, while Lal polled 16,624 votes.
In the Surankote assembly segment, independent candidate and National Conference rebel Choudhary Mohammad Akram defeated Congress’ Mohammad Shahnawaz by a margin of 8,851 votes. Akram received 34,201 votes.
Muzaffar Iqbal Khan won the Thanamandi seat with a margin of 6,179 votes against BJP candidate Mohmmad Iqbal Malik. Khan garnered 32,645 votes.
Khursheed Ahmed Sheikh secured 25,984 votes and defeated Peoples Conference’s Irfan Sultan Panditpuri by a margin of 1,602 votes in the Langate assembly seat.
Similarly, Shabir Ahmed Kullay defeated National Conference candidate Sheikh Mohmmad Rafi by a margin of 1,207 votes in the Shopian seat.
A total of 346 independent candidates contested in the J&K Assembly elections, with 339 of them failing to win.
Three and four candidates were elected to the J&K Assembly in 2014 and 2008 elections, respectively.(PTI)
AAP registers first win in Jammu and Kashmir assembly polls, Mehraj Malik bags Doda
The Aam Aadmi Party registered its first victory in assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday when its candidate Mehraj Malik defeated his nearest rival from the BJP in Doda constituency by a margin of over 4,538 votes.
Malik, a District Development Council (DDC) member, polled 23,228 votes against BJP’s Gajay Singh Rana’s 18,690 votes.
National Conference leader and former minister Khalid Najib Suharwardy and DPAP leader Abdul Majid Wani got 13,334 and 10,027 votes, respectively. Congress candidate Sheikh Riaz Ahmad was pushed to the fifth place having secured 4,170 votes.
Malik unsuccessfully contested Lok Sabha elections from Udhampur constituency early this year.
AAP had fielded seven candidates out of 90 assembly segments.
The party, which is in power in Delhi and Punjab, was granted national party status in September last year. It also has MLAs in Gujarat and Goa.(PTI)
