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Mehbooba Mufti pays the price for BJP alliance, PDP fails to win a single J&K seat

Not only has the PDP not won a single seat, its chief, Mehbooba Mufti, finished third in her party bastion of Anantnag.

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Srinagar: The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has paid a heavy price for its dalliance with the BJP in Jammu and Kashmir, with the party returning empty-handed in the Lok Sabha elections even as its president, Mehbooba Mufti, finished third in the party bastion of Anantnag parliamentary constituency.

Click here for more Lok Sabha election coverage.

Of the six Lok Sabha constituencies in the state, three — Ladakh, Udhampur and Jammu — have gone to the BJP while the National Conference (NC) won the three Valley seats of Srinagar, Baramulla, and Anantnag.

The BJP’s former allies, the PDP and Sajad Lone’s People’s Conference have both received a drubbing.


Also read: Baramulla poll result will reveal just how much alliance with BJP cost Mehbooba Mufti’s PDP


The PDP finished fourth in Baramulla and ended up second in Srinagar, losing by a massive 70,000 votes. Lone’s party finished second in Anantnag but had nothing to show for anywhere else.

The winners included former J&K chief minister and NC chief Farooq Abdullah in Srinagar, NC’s Muhammad Akbar Lone in Baramulla and the party’s Hasnain Masoodi in Anantnag.

In Jammu, Jugal Kishore of the BJP won beat Raman Bhalla of the Congress by a margin of 2,59,145 votes while in Udhampur, union minister Jitendra Singh beat Vikramaditya of the Congress.

The BJP’s Jamyang Tsering Namgyal won the Ladakh Lok Sabha seat, defeating Independent Sajjad Hussain by over 9,000 votes.

The BJP, however, had a poor showing in the Valley, where its three candidates managed a total of 9,841 votes between them. Sofi Yosuf, its choice in Baramulla, managed 2,436 votes, Maqbool War secured 5,440 in Anantnag while Khalid Jehangir managed 1,965 votes in Srinagar.

Mandate could widen rift between Delhi and Srinagar

The mandate, of a clear divide between Jammu, Ladakh and the Valley, could potentially widen the rift between Delhi and Srinagar over a number of issues in a state that is now under President’s rule. Given the BJP’s promise in its manifesto to repeal Article 370 and Article 35A, the politics in the Valley is likely to turn shrill in coming months and years.

The results seem to have generated a mixed reaction in the Valley. While an overwhelming number of people here foresee a hardened approach by the Modi government, with some anticipating a renewed threat to the special status of J&K, there is also a view that the new BJP government may not be as bad as the apprehensions.


Also read: Shiv Sena demands Modi’s assurance that PDP, NC, NCP won’t be part of NDA after polls


“I personally think the mandate is good news,” said political commentator and professor Noor Mohammad Baba. “A message of unity has gone from Kashmir to Delhi as there were attempts in the past to create divisions in Kashmir. As far as the division between voters in Jammu and in Kashmir goes, that has always been there,” Baba added.

Kashmir-based political expert Dr Sheikh Showkat Hussain said, “The results are on expected lines. Modi has managed to sway Indian voters by invoking Pakistan phobia and minority bashing.

“The result will go a long way in shaping the future of India and put a test to Hindutva forces as to how they are going to treat the minorities. Kashmiri Muslims will be legitimately expecting a decisive policy for the resolution of the Kashmir dispute.”

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1 COMMENT

  1. It’s so foolish that PDP’s failure is attributed to alliance with BJP and not to her challenging the Indian state and other Indians. The author is forgetting that BJP is winning in J&K. It’s time for people like Mufti, Abdullhas and this author to start talking about the full integration of J&K with India. Just keep stocking anti-India feelings wouldn’t get you anywhere as happens to Mufti.

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