Kulgam, October 8: In a significant victory for the Left, CPI(M) veteran Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami secured the Kulgam seat for the fifth consecutive time in the 2024 Assembly elections.
Tarigami, a dominant figure in Kulgam politics, triumphed with a margin of 7,838 votes, garnering 33,634 votes. His closest rival, Independent candidate Sayar Ahmad Reshi, managed 25,796 votes.
This marks Tarigami’s fifth victory in the constituency, following previous wins in 1996, 2002, 2008, and 2014.
The counting of all the three assembly segments of Kulgam was held at Government Degree College (GDC), Kulgam amid tight security which went on peacefully throughout the day.
The National Conference (NC) also registered major wins in the region. Former cabinet minister Sakina Itoo staged a comeback by winning the Damhal Hanjipora (D H Pora) seat, defeating Gulzar Ahmad Dar of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
Itoo, who lost the seat in 2014 to PDP’s Abdul Majeed Padder by 3,708 votes, secured a decisive win this time with a margin of 17,449 votes, receiving a total of 36,623 votes.
In the Devsar constituency, NC debutant Peerzada Feroze Ahmad claimed victory in a close contest against senior PDP leader and former Deputy Speaker Mohammad Sartaj Madni.
Feroze, in his first electoral outing, edged out Madni with a narrow margin of 840 votes. The seat had been held by Congress’s Mohammad Amin Bhat in 2014, but Bhat, contesting under the Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) in 2024, was not in the running for the final battle.
With these results, all three seats in Kulgam district have gone to the INDIA alliance, with two seats secured by the NC and one by CPI(M). The Devsar seat, however, witnessed a friendly contest between alliance members.
The counting for all three assembly segments of Kulgam was held at Government Degree College (GDC), Kulgam, under tight security, and proceeded peacefully throughout the day.
