Blitz Bureau
THE Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir turned all pre-poll projections on their head as it handed a big win to the National Conference-Congress alliance. Soon after the results, NC President Farooq Abdullah announced that his son and party Vice-President Omar Abdullah would be the next Chief Minister.
In the elections to the 90-member Assembly, held after a gap of ten years and for the first time after the abrogation of Article 370 five years ago, the NC-Cong combine won 48 seats, while the BJP improved its 2014 tally by securing 29. Mehbooba Mufti’s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which was the top performer in 2014 with 28 seats, bagged only three seats.
Independents, which had a large presence in the poll fray, won seven seats, while the CPIM and the Peoples Conference won one seat each. The victory of Aam Aadmi Party’s Mehraj Malik from Doda came as a big surprise. In a reversal of fortunes after the LS defeat from Baramulla, Omar won from both the seats he contested – Budgam and Ganderbal. The possibility of a hung Assembly in the UT had the Opposition parties worried that the five MLAS to be nominated by the Lieutenant-Governor could play a decisive role in government-formation. A decisive mandate in favour of the NC-Cong has put all such speculations to rest.
The BJP dominated the Jammu region but posted a dismal performance in the Kashmir Valley. Despite the Central government’s five-year push to transform the region into a ‘Naya Kashmir’ with a focus on peace, development, and prosperity, the promised change did not convert into votes for the saffron party in the region.
