Jammu, Oct 07: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is relying on 15 independent candidates it supported in the Kashmir Valley, along with smaller Kashmir-based parties, to form the next government in Jammu & Kashmir.
A crucial meeting of the BJP’s Election Management Committee took place on Monday at the party’s headquarters in Trikuta Nagar here, which was chaired by J&K BJP Incharge Tarun Chugh, senior leader Ram Madhav and co-incharge Ashish Sood. Other attendees included former Deputy Chief Ministers Kavinder Gupta and Dr Nirmal Singh, BJP General Secretary (Organisation) Ashok Koul, BJP J&K President Ravinder Raina and Working President Sat Sharma, among others.
Following the meeting, Ram Madhav headed to Kashmir ahead of the counting scheduled for tomorrow. The party identified 7-8 Assembly seats in J&K where they anticipate a close contest, instructing leaders to exercise caution during the counting process for these crucial seats.
Speaking to Rising Kashmir, the J&K BJP President said, “The BJP has supported 15 independent and like-minded candidates in Kashmir and is poised to emerge as the largest party in Jammu and Kashmir with at least 35 seats.”
He said that the nomination of five MLAs by the Lieutenant Governor (LG) would adhere to the Reorganisation Act. “The process is constitutional,” he asserted.
Raina expressed confidence in winning 35 seats in Jammu & Kashmir, adding, “With the support of independents and like-minded groups, who we expect to secure around 15 seats, we will surpass the majority mark of 50 to form the next government in J&K.”
Meanwhile, various exit polls have predicted Congress-NC being ahead in a tight race.
According to TV-Today C-voter projections, the NC-Congress alliance is likely to win 40-48 seats while the BJP can win 27-32.
Former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti-led People’s Democratic Party is likely to win 6-12 seats whereas others can win 6-11.
As per Dainik Bhaskar’s projection, the NC-Congress alliance can win seats ranging from 35-40. The BJP can win 20-25 seats, the PDP 4-7 while the others can win 12-18 seats.
Earlier on Saturday, PDP candidate from Lal Chowk Assembly seat Zuhaib Yousuf Mir hinted that they can join the Congress-NC alliance to keep BJP out of power and told ANI that they are ready to take any step to save the identity of Kashmir.
The Axis My India has predicted a hung assembly in Jammu and Kashmir with the National Conference-Congress alliance slightly ahead and the BJP tailgating the opposition.
According to Axis My India, the NC-Congress alliance can win 35-45 seats whereas the BJP can win 24-34 seats.
Notably, the majority mark to form the government in the Union Territory is 46 and the prediction has shown no one above the mark.
The Election Commission of India said that an overall 63.88 per cent voter turnout was recorded in the Assembly elections in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
The counting of votes will take place on October 8. In 2023, the Supreme Court directed the Centre to hold Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir by September 30, 2024.
