New Delhi: The first assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 has seen the National Conference-Congress winning 47 seats so far, crossing the majority mark.
National Conference had won 41 seats and was leading in one while the Congress had won the remaining six seats by 4.15 pm, according to the election commission website.
Jammu and Kashmir will be getting an elected government after a gap of 10 years. The ten years carry a lot of weight and significance, with the people of the region voting not to elect a government of state but Union Territory for the first time on 18 September last month. The region’s status changed in 5 August 2019 following the abrogation of Article 370 by the Narendra Modi-led government.
“People have given their mandate, they have proven that they don’t accept the decision that was taken on 5 August…. Omar Abdullah will be the chief minister,” National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah told ANI about the election results.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) hoped to improve its performance in this election from the last 2014 assembly poll in which it had won 25 seats. By 4.15 pm, the party had already won 27 seats and was leading in two seats.
For the National Conference, these elections carried a lot of importance as NC chairperson and former CM Omar Abdullah lost to Engineer Rashid in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. After several statements about not contesting polls till the restoration of statehood to J&K, Omar Abdullah decided to take the plunge and contest not one but two seats in the assembly elections. While he has won the Budgam seat, he is also set for a win in Ganderbal.
Even as the withdrawal of Article 370 and statehood emerged as major issues, local issues such as roads, electricity and employment took centre stage in the assembly elections. Campaigning in the region, Prime Minister Modi had promised to restore Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood, while the party promised a ‘Naya Kashmir’.
There were many other firsts in this keenly watched election. Established political parties pitched candidates against Independents, some backed by organisations such as the banned Jamaat-e-Islami. Engineer Abdul Rashid’s Awami Ittehad Party entered the fray. The absence of stalwarts such as Mehbooba Mufti, who chose not to contest the elections this time, was another development.
Amid a high-security cover, voting in the region happened in three phases, with voter turnouts of 61.28 percent, 57.13 percent, and 65.65 percent in the first, second and third phases, respectively.
The Jammu and Kashmir assembly has 90 seats, requiring any party or coalition to win at least 46 seats to stake claim to form government. For the first time, five nominated members may also play a key role in the government formation. The Congress has opposed the move, calling it an attempt by the BJP to manipulate the results.
The nominations are part of amendments to the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act of 2019. A recent 2023 revision allows the assembly to expand to 95 members, with the majority threshold raised to 48 seats.
These elections carried political weight for the BJP even beyond the region. The Modi government has been showcasing the abrogation of Article 370 as one of its key achievements.
The PDP, which contested the elections on its own despite being a part of the INDIA bloc, managed to win three seats. The party’s fortunes have dwindled in recent years.
The election assumed greater significance for the PDP, considering Mehbooba Mufti recently suffered a defeat from the Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha seat and decided not to fight this assembly election, saying she would not contest as long as Jammu & Kashmir was a Union territory and did not have its special status.
In their manifestos, the NC and the PDP promised to pursue the restoration of Articles 370 and 35A, which granted special rights to permanent residents of Jammu & Kashmir. The Congress, however, decided to remain mum on the issue, a decision taken ‘strategically’.
The National Conference’s election campaign, meanwhile, saw party patriarch Farooq Abdullah addressing rallies across the region. The party attacked the BJP, as well as the PDP for its “betrayal” in joining hands with the BJP to form a government in 2014.
Ghulam Nabi Azad who, in 2022, launched his platform, the Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP), has failed to leave a mark in this election, with all of its 22 candidates losing or trailing.
At 365, these elections witnessed the participation of the second-highest number of independent candidates since 2008 when 468 were in the fray. Most, however, failed to leave a mark. The Independents were termed “proxy candidates of the BJP” by traditional political parties, but they had denied the charges.
In 2014, when Jammu and Kashmir had been a state, the BJP won 25 seats in the Jammu region and formed a coalition government with the PDP, which, with 28 seats, was the single-largest party at the time.
Ahead of this election, heavyweights such as PM Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah campaigned in Jammu, where the BJP has secured the majority of its wins, so far.
Modi addressed a rally in Doda ahead of the polls — the first for a PM in 40 years. Similarly, Amit Shah’s public meeting in the Kishtwar district’s Paddar area was the first ever by a Union Home Minister after 1947.
A recent delimitation exercise led to the Kashmir region having 47 seats and the Jammu region 43. The delimitation exercise led to an increase in seats in the Hindu-dominated Jammu, as well as the reservation of nine seats for the Scheduled Tribes.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
Also Read: Months after LS defeat, Omar Abdullah wins J&K’s Budgam, leads in Ganderbal
Biggest achievement for bjp is election without violence.
And securing 29 seats of Hindu dominated
This is just the beginning of Naya Kashmir
Congratulations to the Congress supporting journalists in the media in general and Print in particular. This win shows that no matter what Muslims will always vote against BJP as a group. This was evident in Haryana too. What has flopped is a BJP minority outreach. They should rather focus on their existing supporters rather than splurge political capital on ungrateful folks who only vote on the basis of religion. Hindu issues, not just superficial and perception based but real issues, involving laws that address the continuous attacks on the culture through conversion, and constant demeaning of Hindus need to be addressed. Slogans such as Sar Tan Se Juda and in general provoking a mob to violence from prayers should carry a stiffer punishment than regular violence.
Parents who are involved in these acts should lose custody of their minor children, just as in the US since they do not show the adult capabiility to raise them.