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National Conference on comeback trail
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leader Chhewang wins Ladakh seat Ladakh (Leh), May 13 Independent Buddhist candidate Thupstan Chhewang today defeated his nearest National Conference rival Ghulam Hassan Khan by a promising margin of 25,581 votes. Hizbul commander shot dead
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National Conference on comeback trail
Jammu, May 13 On the other hand, the National Conference seems to have regained, to a large extent, the ground it had lost during the Assembly elections in 2002 have as the party has won two of the three seats in the Kashmir Valley. The “friendly” contest between the Congress and the PDP in Baramula has cost the ruling coalition dear as it has lost the seat to the National Conference. Although there was no wave in favour of any party, the Congress has staged a come back in the Jammu region by winning the two seats, Jammu and Udhampur, after about 10 years. Of the six Lok Sabha seats in the state, the Congress and its allies have won four, while the NC has won two. The Ladakh Union Territory Front (LUTF) that had fielded Mr Thupstan Chhewang as an independent candidate has won the seat. The LUTF is considered close to the Congress. The NC had five seats and the BJP one in the dissolved Lok Sabha. Going by the earlier strength of the NC, it has been a loser this time, but taking into account its performance in the last Assembly elections when it lost power, the two seats the NC has won indicate that it is on a comeback trail. The NC President, Mr Omar Abdullah, has recaptured the Srinagar seat despite the fact that there was poor polling because of a boycott call of separatists and various terrorist outfits. He won by a margin of 22,730, though the PDP of Chief Minister Mufti Sayeed had been interpreting the low voter turnout in its own favour. The results indicate that nothing could have been worse than the coalition partners, the Congress and the PDP, pitting their respective candidates against each other in Baramula from where Mr A.R. Shaheen of the NC was seeking re-election. As a result of the in fighting between the coalition partners, the seat went to the NC with a margin of 9,895 votes although the coalition candidates, Mr Nizamuddin and Mr G.R. Kar, jointly polled 1,79,586 votes against 1,27,335 of Mr Shaheen. Mr Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami, a sitting MLA of the CPM, who was supporting the coalition government, was unable to cut any ice in the Anantnag constituency where he contested against Ms Mehbooba Mufti, President of the PDP. Ms Mufti, who had last time lost the Lok Sabha election to Mr Omar Abdullah in Srinagar, has this time made it to Parliament by defeating the NC candidate, Dr Mehboob Beg, a sitting MLA, by a margin of 38,940 votes. It was bad luck for Mr Chaman Lal Gupta, Union Minister of State for Defence and the BJP candidate, who was unable to reach the Lok Sabha after having represented the constituency for three consecutive terms. He lost to a newcomer, Mr Lal Singh, Health Minister and the Congress candidate, whose campaign was very aggressive. Mr Nirmal Singh, president of the state unit of the BJP, has lost for the second time from the Jammu constituency. Mr Madan Lal Sharma, PWD Minister and the Congress candidate, trounced Mr Nirmal Singh by a margin of 17,558 votes. The fall of the two BJP stalwarts was mainly due to bickering within the organisation and lack of cohesiveness, although the RSS that backed the Jammu State Morcha in the Assembly elections had this time campaigned for the BJP and also united various splinter groups in its favour. After having been badly defeated in the Assembly elections, the rout of the party in the Lok Sabha elections has come as a shock to the party cadres. Another casualty of the election was Mr Bhim Singh, Chairman of the Panthers Party, who contested the Lok Sabha election from Udhampur as a rebel candidate of the ruling coalition. He badly lost the election although he was claiming to be a strong contender as two ministers of his party were campaigning for him. The NC has failed to win even a single seat in the Jammu region where it was holding the Jammu seat in the dissolved Lok Sabha.  |
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Buddhist leader Chhewang wins Ladakh seat Ladakh Leh, May 13 Even today they went around Leh, playing traditional songs on the music system powered by an electric generator that had been installed especially in the truck that went as part of the victory procession. While Mr Chhewang polled a phenomenal 66,881 votes out of the total votes cast in the May 10 poll, Hassan Khan could muster only 41, 100 votes. The lowest number of votes went to BJP candidate Sonam Paljor, who is likely to lose his deposit, as in the last parliamentary elections. Meanwhile, former NC man Wazir Ali, who contested as an Independent from Kargil, dealt a “political” blow to Hassan Khan by diverting 18, 115 Muslim votes. For the Buddhists of Ladakh, Chhewang’s victory is not so much a gain of political power as a reassertion of identity. No wonder they emerged in strong numbers to underline their victory. Not only did they occupy every possible inch of the roads, they were also seen hanging from the balconies of their homes to catch a glimpse of the celebration. Even in the absence of the winning candidate Mr Chhewang, who is in Kargil today, Buddhists celebrated with gusto, dancing on traditional as well as Punjabi tunes. It was also time for the Ladakh Buddhist Association to ignore the call of ban on firecrackers, which found their way on the Leh streets today. Indulging in fireworks, the members and supporters of Ladakh Union Territory Front (LUTF), the mother organisation of Chhewang, kept the spirit of celebration alive throughout the day. The official celebrations will, however, take place tomorrow at Polo Grounds when Mr Chhewang returns from Kargil, after halting at locations like Nubra, Saspol and Basgo on the way. Significant among those present during the celebrations were the many heads of Muslim organisations of Leh. |
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Hizbul commander shot dead Srinagar, May 13 Sources said the security forces challenged militants at Wagoora in north Kashmir late last night and in the ensuing encounter HM district commander Mushtaq Ahmad Bhat was killed. An AK rifle and other arms besides ammunition were recovered from the slain militant. Bhat, wanted in several militancy-related incidents in north Kashmir, was the third top HM commander killed by the security forces during the past one week. Abdul Rashid Shardhar, HM operational chief for Jammu and Kashmir, was the first to get killed on May 6 while its deputy chief, Shakeel Ansari, was killed on May 11. However, the HM alleged that both commanders were killed after their arrest. Militants hurled a hand grenade at a BSF bunker at Rajouri Kadal in the city last night. However, the grenade missed the intended target and exploded in the house of Nazir Ahmad Bandari without causing any damage. He said militants also fired at the house of Mr Ali Mohammad Koka, a CPM leader at Kulgam in south Kashmir. However, no one was injured. Militants entered the house of Bashir Ahmad Sheikh at Palapora in the frontier district of Kupwara and shot at and wounded him. Bashir, a former militant, was hospitalised.1 — UNI |
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