• BJP emerges as second-largest party with 29 seats
• Omar Abdullah to be appointed as J&K’s next chief minister: Farooq Abdullah.
• Omar wins twin seats in Budgam and Ganderbal, hails voters’ trust.
• AAP makes historic debut in J&K, wins its first seat in Doda
• PDP suffers major losses, secure only 3 seats
• Independent candidates win 7 seats
• BJP’s Ravinder Raina loses Nowshera seat to NC’s Surinder Choudhary by 7,819 votes
• AIP, PC, Apni Party, DPAP faces crushing defeat as most candidates lose deposits
Srinagar, Sep 10: The National Conference-Congress alliance is set to form government in Jammu and Kashmir in what was the first Assembly election in a decade for the Union Territory.
The Congress-National Conference alliance secured 49 seats out of 90, winning the Assembly elections and is set to form the government in next few days in J&K.
National Conference Vice President Omar Abdullah won both Budgam and Ganderbal seats by considerable margins. After Omar’s victory in Budgam, his father and NC chief Farooq Abdullah said he “will become the CM”. Meanwhile, the BJP secured its highest ever vote share in assembly polls in J&K, securing 29 seats.
Of these, 42 seats belong to the National Conference, six to the Indian National Congress and one to the Communist Party of India (Marxist) – CPI (M).
BJP won 29 seats, while the PDP secured three. Seven Independents were declared victorious. The Aam Aadmi Party, in a surprise entry, won its first ever seat in the Doda Assembly constituency.
National Conference Vice President Omar Abdullah won the Ganderbal assembly seat by a margin of 10, 574 seats. He defeated PDP’s Bashir Ahmad Mir. He also emerged victorious in the Budgam seat with 36,010 votes, while Muntazir secured 17,525 votes.
After securing victory on twin seats in Budgam and Ganderbal, JKNC Vice President Omar Abdullah said that no one can deny that people of Jammu and Kashmir have shown love to the National Conference, and whatever that was left made up by our alliance partners.
He said that those who had tried to destroy his party were nowhere to be seen today and efforts were being made over the last five years to “destroy” the NC.
“Now it is our duty to prove worthy of these votes. This will be our effort for the next five years,” Omar said.
In a post on X, Omar said “If you pay for exit polls or waste time discussing them, you deserve all the jokes, memes, and ridicule. There was a reason I called them a waste of time a few days ago,” he said.
National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah declared that Omar Abdullah will be appointed as chief minister after the party, in alliance with Congress.
Briefing the media outside his house, Farooq Abdullah said, “People have given their mandate; they have proven that they don’t accept the decision that was taken on August 5. Omar Abdullah will be the chief minister.”
Senior Congress leader and general secretary, Jairam Ramesh said that the people of J&K have given a clear, decisive mandate to the National Conference and Indian National Congress alliance.
“The priority of the alliance government will be the restoration of the statehood of J&K. The alliance government will be responsible, accountable, and transparent for the people,” he said.
Jairam, further, said people of J&K have defeated the mischievous designs of the BJP to engineer a majority of its own.
The BJP emerged as the second largest party, winning 29 constituencies in the maiden Assembly polls post abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, improving its all-time high tally of 25 seats recorded in 2014 elections.
Party’s biggest setback was the loss suffered by its UT president Ravinder Raina from Nowshera constituency at the hands of the National Conference. The party also failed to secure a win from any seat in Kashmir where most of its nearly two dozen candidates lost their security deposit.
Former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti’s PDP secured 3 seats, while Sajad Gani Lone’s JKPC won 1 seat. In a notable victory, the Aam Aadmi Party won one assembly seat in Doda.
Senior CPI(M) leader M Y Tarigami defeated Jamaat-e-Islami backed candidate Sayar Ahmad Reshi to win the Kulgam assembly segment for the fifth consecutive time. Tarigami’s party is a part of the NC-Congress alliance.
Jammu and Kashmir BJP chief Ravinder Raina lost the Nowshera seat to National Conference candidate Surinder Choudhary, who won by a considerable margin of 7,819 votes.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) made its electoral debut in Jammu and Kashmir by winning the Doda assembly constituency, with AAP candidate Mehraj Malik defeating the BJP’s Gajay Singh Rana.
After AAP made a surprise entry by winning a maiden seat in Jammu and Kashmir, party chief Arvind Kejriwal has congratulated Mehraj din Malik, the party candidate from the Doda seat for the “landslide victory”.
“You fought a very good election. Congratulations to the entire Aam Aadmi Party on getting an MLA in the fifth state,” Kejriwal posted on X.
Interestingly, the BJP secured a remarkable vote share of 25.64%, followed by the National Conference with 23.43%, and Congress with 11.97%.
Three women, including former Minister Sakeena Masood (National Conference), won also elections ato enter the male-dominated Assembly in J&K.
Lone BJP female candidate Shagun Parihar won the Kishtwar Assembly seat, defeating veteran National Conference leader and former minister Sajad Ahmed Kitchloo.
After a long see-saw battle, JKNC leader Javaid Riyaz won from the Pattan assembly seat with a margin of 603 votes. He defeated JKPC’s Imran Raza Ansari and former MLA Pattan.
Meanwhile, seven independent candidates have emerged victorious in the J&K Assembly polls, a significant increase from the 2014 elections when three such candidates had won. Around 346 independent candidates contested Assembly elections, with 339 of them failing to win.
PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti said that the Centre should take a lesson from the decisive verdict and “not meddle” in the affairs of the upcoming government in the Union Territory.
“I congratulate the NC leadership for its spectacular win. I also want to congratulate the people of J-K for voting for a stable government and not a hung assembly because the people faced several problems especially after August 5, 2019. A stable and strong government is very important for the redressal of those problems,” she added.
Meanwhile, Union Minister Jitendra Singh commended the BJP for what he described as the party’s best performance so far in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections.
PDP leader Iltija Mufti, who lost in her electoral debut from the Bijbehara seat in South Kashmir, said multiple factors led to her defeat at the hands of National Conference (NC) leader Bashir Ahmad Veeri.
“It was not just about me. There were multiple factors. Our party was broken, we lost our seats to NC because, in the valley, the people would choose either the NC or the PDP. This time, they decided to give NC a chance,’ she added.
The candidates from Engineer Rashid-led Awami Ittehad Party and Jamaat-e-Islami failed to make a meaningful impact in the polls.
Despite their efforts, the majority of candidates associated with these groups lost their deposits, indicating a clear disapproval from the electorate.
Notably, Aizaj Ahmed Guru, brother of Afzal Guru, suffered a crushing defeat in the Sopore assembly seat, receiving only 129 votes — significantly fewer than the 341 votes cast for the ‘None of the Above’ (NOTA) option.
AIP led by Er.Rashid had fielded 44 candidates. However, even prominent figures, including AIP spokesperson Firdous Baba and businessman Sheikh Ashiq Hussain, found themselves unsuccessful, with many losing their deposits.
Banned Jamaat-e-Islami had put forward four candidates and supported an additional four, but other than Reshi, all were unsuccessful in securing even minimal support.
The Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir were held on September 18, September 25, and October
The assembly elections for its 90 constituencies were held in three phases – September 18, September 25, and October 1 – after a gap of 10 years. This is also the first time Jammu and Kashmir had assembly elections since Article 370 was abolished in August 2019, which divided the former state into the Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh.
The three-phase elections resulted in voter participation of 63.88%, as per the Election Commission of India. The counting of votes began today at 8 am, with heavy security arrangements in place.
District wise breakup
In Srinagar, National Conference (NC) swept major seats, with Ahsan Pardeshi winning Lal Chowk, Salman Ali Sagar securing Hazratbal, and Ali Muhammad Sagar taking Khanyar. Habba Kadal was won by Shameema Firdous, while Mushtaq Guroo claimed Chanapora, and Tanvir Sadiq took Zadibal. Mubarak Gul emerged victorious in Eidgah for the NC, while Central Shalteng saw a win for Tariq Hameed Karra of the Indian National Congress (INC).
In Budgam, NC continued its dominance, with Omar Abdullah winning Budgam, Dr. Shafi Wani securing Beerwah, Saifuddin Bhat taking Khansahib, Abdul Rahim Rather emerging victorious in Charar-e-Sharif, and Ali Muhammad Dar winning Chadoora. In Ganderbal, NC’s Omar Abdullah claimed the Ganderbal seat, while Mian Mehar Ali took Kangan.
Baramulla witnessed a strong showing by the NC, with Javaid Hasan Beigh winning Baramulla, Irshad Rasool Kar taking Sopore, and Javaid Dar securing Rafiabad. Uri was claimed by Dr. Sajad Shafi, and Farooq Shah won Gulmarg. Meanwhile, Irfan Hafiz Lone of the INC took Wagoora-Kreeri, and Javaid Reyaz Bedar of the NC claimed Pattan.
In Bandipora, the INC’s Nizamuddin Bhat won the Bandipora seat, while NC’s Hilal Akbar Lone took Sonawari, and Nazir Gurezi won Gurez. Kupwara saw a mix of victories, with PDP’s Fayaz Mir taking Kupwara, NC’s Saifullah Mir winning Thregam, and Javaid Mirchal claiming Karnah. Qaisar Jamshid Lone of NC won Lolab, while Handwara was secured by PC’s Sajad Lone, and AIP’s Khurshid Ahmed Sheikh took Langate.
In South Kashmir’s Anantnag district, the INC and NC dominated, with Pirzada Muhammad Sayed of INC winning Anantnag, Abdul Majeed Larmi of NC taking Anantnag West, and Ghulam Ahmad Mir of INC securing Dooru. NC’s Zafar Ali Khatana took Kokarnag, Bashir Veeri won Sri Gufwara-Bijbehara, Reyaz Khan secured Shangus Anantnag East, and Altaf Wani Kaloo took Pahalgam. In Kulgam, Yousuf Tarigami of CPIM won Kulgam, NC’s Sakina Itoo took DH Pora, and Pirzada Feroz won Devsar.
In Pulwama, PDP’s Wahid Parra won Pulwama, while NC’s Hasnain Masoodi took Pampore, PDP’s Rafiq Naik secured Tral, and NC’s Mohiuddin Mir won Rajpora. Shopian saw an Independent, Shabir Kullay, claim the Shopian seat, and NC’s Showkat Hussain Ganaie won Zainapora.
In Jammu district, the BJP dominated, with Sham Lal Sharma winning Jammu North, Yudvir Sethi taking Jammu East, and Arvind Gupta securing Jammu West. Dr. Narinder Singh Raina won Jammu South (RS Pora), Rajiv Kumar took Bishna, Gharu Ram Bhagat secured Suchetgarh, and Vikram Randhwa won Bahu. Nagrota went to BJP’s Davinder Rana, while Surinder Kumar Bhagat took Marh, Mohan Lal Bhagat won Akhnoor, and Rajiv Sharma secured Chhamb.
In Samba, BJP continued its dominance with Surjit Singh Slathia winning Samba, Chander Prakash taking Vijaypur, and Dr. Davinder Kumar Manyal securing Ramgarh.
Kishtwar district saw BJP’s Shagun Parihar winning Kishtwar, an Independent, Pyare Lal, claiming Inderwal, and BJP’s Sunil Kumar Sharma securing Paddar Nagaseni. Doda saw a split with AAP’s Mehraj Malik winning Doda, while BJP’s Shakti Raj Parihar took Doda West, and Daleep Singh Parihar secured Badharwah.
In Ramban, NC’s Arjun Singh Raju won Ramban, and Sajad Shaheen secured Banihal for the NC. In Reasi, BJP’s Kuldeep Raj Dubey claimed Reasi, while NC’s Khurshid Ahmed won Gulabgarh, and Baldev Raj Sharma took Vishno Devi for the BJP.
In Udhampur, BJP claimed all four seats, with Pawan Kumar Gupta winning Udhampur West, RS Pathania securing Udhampur East, Balwant Singh Mankotia taking Chenani, and Sunil Bharadwaj securing Ramnagar. Kathua also saw BJP victories, with Dr. Bharat Bhushan winning Kathua, Satish Kumar Sharma securing Billawar, Darshan Kumar taking Basohli, Rajiv Jasrota winning Jasrota, and Vijay Kumar claiming Hiranagar. An Independent, Dr. Rameshwar Singh, took Bani.
In Rajouri, INC’s Iftikar Ahmed won Rajouri, while BJP’s Randhir Singh took Kalakote-Sunderbani, NC’s Surinder Kumar Choudary won Nowshera, Javaid Iqbal claimed Budhal for NC, and Independent Muzafar Iqbal Khan secured Thanamandi.