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Informist, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024

 

NEW DELHI – The Jammu and Kashmir National Conference and the Congress alliance on Tuesday won 49 out of 90 seats in Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections. The National Conference emerged largest party in the Union territory with 42 seats and its allies--the Congress and Communist Party of India (Marxist)--won six and one seat, respectively.

 

The Bharatiya Janata Party, which contested 62 seats in the Union territory, secured victory on 29. The Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party, which was the largest party in 2014 Assembly elections, was reduced to just three seats. The independents won seven and the Jammu & Kashmir People Conference and the Aam Aadmi Party won one seat each. The saffron party polled 25.64% votes and the National Conference-Congress alliance 35.40%.

With 49 seats in its bucket, the National Conference-Congress alliance has secured a thin majority in the assembly which has an expandable strength of 95 members. The lieutenant-governor has the power to nominate five members to the assembly, taking its strength to 95.

 

The provision to nominate two women existed in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Act, 2023 empowered the lieutenant governor to nominate two members from the Kashmiri migrant community, one of them must be a woman, and to nominate one member from displaced persons from Pakistan administered Jammu & Kashmir.

 

NC President Farooq Abdullah also announced that his son and party's Vice-President Omar Abdullah will be the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir. Omar Abdullah secured victory in both the seats--Budgam and Ganderbal–-he contested. Omar Abdullah had previously served as the chief minister from 2009 to 2015.

 

The PDP emerged as biggest loser. It has reduced to just three seats from 28 it won in 2014 assembly elections. While PDP President Mehbooba Mufti didn't contest the election, her daughter Iltija Mufti lost her maiden elections from the family bastion Srigufwara-Bijbehara seat. It appeared that the people of Kashmir have not forgiven the party for its decision of forging an alliance with the BJP in 2015.

 

THE SEPARATIST FACTOR

The first assembly elections Jammu and Kashmir, after Article 370 of the Constitution was removed from the state and was made a Union Territory in 2019, also witnessed banned Jamaat-e-Islami entering the election process after decades of boycott calls. The Jamaat and Baramulla Lok Sabha member Engineer Rashid's Awami Ittehad Party had also forged a strategic alliance. Rashid had defeated Omar Abdullah in 2024 Lok Sabha elections. All eyes were on this coalition in the elections. However, the candidates of Jamaat and Rashid's party failed to make an impact in the elections. It appeared that Rashid's party failed to overcome the proxy narrative. The National COnference had alleged Rashid's party and Jamaat candidates as proxies of BJP to divide the votes of NC, Congress and CPI(M).

 

Rashid's brother Khursheed Ahmad Shiekh, though, won elections from Langate seat with very thin margin of 1,602 votes. Engineer Rashid had defeated Omar Abdullah with a margin of over 200,000 votes in Lok Sabha polls.

 

AAM AADMI PARTY 

In a surprising development, the Aam Aadmi Party opened its tally in Jammu and Kashmir. AAP candidate Mehraj Malik won Doda seat in Jammu division with a margin of 4,538 votes. AAP has governments in Delhi and Punjab and now has members in the legislative assemblies of Jammu and Kashmir, Goa, and Gujarat.

 

STATEHOOD RESTORATION

At a press conference in Delhi, the Congress said that the people of Jammu and Kashmir have given a decisive mandate to the alliance. It said that the restoration of full statehood to the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir will be the priority of the new government. It also said that the Bharat Jodo Yatra of Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi had major impact on the transformation of political environment of Jammu and Kashmir. "We are duty bound to give a transparent, responsible government. People have defeated the mischievous design of the BJP to engineer a majority for itself. Today, the people's verdict has come out very clearly. The moves of BJP to cobble up majority was defeated," Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh said.

 

Assembly elections in Jammu & Kashmir were held for the first time since the abrogation of Article 370 in the state in August 2019. Employment and abrogation of Article 370 and statehood were among the major issues in the Jammu & Kashmir elections. In the Kashmir valley, political parties have promised the restoration of statehood and special status in their manifesto. The last assembly elections were held in Jammu and Kashmir in 2014. The outcome was a hung assembly with the PDP emerging as the largest party. The PDP had won 28 seats followed by the BJP 25 seats, National Conference 15 and Congress 12.  End

 

Reported by Kuldeep Singh

Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury

 

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