The NC-Congress alliance in Jammu and Kashmir is poised to form the new government with a clear majority in 48 seats out of 90 Assembly constituencies. The region held its first elections in a decade in a significantly altered political landscape.
According to the poll results declared on Tuesday, the NC secured victory in 42 seats, majority of them from the Valley, while the Congress bagged 6 seats, 5 from Kashmir and one from Jammu.
The Bhartiya Janata (BJP), which emerged as the second largest party won 29 seats from Jammu region, but failed to win any seat in the Valley. The People’s Democratic Party was reduced to just 3, while others registered victory on 10 seats.
As the trends became clearer, former Chief Minister and the National Conference president Dr Farooq Abdullah announced that Omar Abdullah would assume the role of Chief Minister.
“It is after 10 years that the people gave their mandate to us. We pray to Allah that we live up to their expectations. This will not be a police rule, but of public,” Abdullah told reporters in Srinagar.
He said that the press would be free and they had to build trust between the communities.
Jammu for BJP
Of total 43 seats in Jammu, the BJP emerged victorious in 29 while the NC won seven seats in the division. The Aam Aadmi party leader Mehraj Malik won a seat from the Doda Assembly constituency. The Congress could secure only one seat from the region while independent candidates won 5 seats.
BJP’s State Secretary Ravindra Raina lost to NC’s Surindra Kumar Choudhary from the Nowshera Assembly seat.
Apni Party, Rashid and Jamaat
The BJP and its perceived proxy –the Apni Party — failed to secure any seat from the Valley. The BJP was contesting from 19 Assembly constituencies in Kashmir while the Apni Party competed in around 60 seats across Jammu and Kashmir.
The BJP, for the first time, contested on the lowest number of seats—62, compared with previous elections when it contested on as many as 85 seats.
Similarly, the proscribed Jamaat-e-Islamia backed candidates failed to secure any seat. The outfit participated in the electoral process after more than three decades and it was hopeful of making a significant impact.
Engineer Rashid led Awami Itihad Party could win only one seat from north Kashmir’s Langate constituency. His brother Khursheed Ahmad Sheikh defeated Jammu and Kashmir People’s Conference candidate Irfan Sultan Pandit Puri by a margin of 1,602 votes.
PDP at its worst
The People’s Democratic Party painted a rather dismal performance. The party was reduced to only three seats, compared with last elections where it secured 28 seats and formed the government with BJP which had bagged 25 seats.
The party also lost its family bastion, where Iltija Mufti, the daughter of the PDP president and former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, was contesting against NC’s Bashir Ahmad Veeri.
“PDP lost the trust of people after it stitched up an alliance with BJP”, said a political observer. He said that the people expressed their pent-up anger against the party through these elections.
CPI(M) wins Jamaat bastion
Veteran Communist leader Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami has secured his fifth consecutive victory in the elections, successfully contesting from the Kulgam constituency, a stronghold of the Jamaat-e-Islami.
He defeated Jamaat backed candidate Sayyar Ahmad Reshi by a margin of 7838 votes. Tarigami has been representing the constituency since 1996. His candidacy was supported by the NC-Congress. In 2014, the communist leader had won by only 336 votes.