At 29, BJP tightens hold on Jammu

With victory on 29 seats, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has emerged as the second largest party in the maiden Assembly polls post abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir. The party was not only able to win in Hindu dominated areas but also in some of the regions with significant Muslim population. The BJP had won 25 out of 37 seats in Jammu region in the 2014 Assembly polls.

Top leaders of the party, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and Defense Minister Rajnath Singh had visited Jammu region multiple times and campaigned for the candidates ahead of polls.

The party was able to win on two of the three constituencies in Kishtwar district, including Kishtwar and Padder-Nagseni seat. It also won two seats in Doda district, including Doda West and Bhaderwah. Both Kishtwar and Doda are far-off areas, which have a history of communal tension. These areas had also witnessed multiple encounters between security forces and terrorists in the recent past. The party also won the crucial Shri Mata Vaishno Devi seat in Reasi district.

Interestingly, rising terror attacks in Jammu region was one of the issues, which the Opposition parties had used to target the BJP. But it failed to impact the core voters of the party. However, the saffron party failed in its attempt to make inroads in Pir Panjal region of Rajouri and Poonch districts by fielding several turncoats from Gujjar and Pahari community. Chowdhary Zulfikar Ali, who switched to the BJP from Apni Party, was fielded from Budhal, former PDP leader Murtaza Khan from Mendhar, while former Congress leader Choudhary Abdul Ghani contested from Poonch Haveli. All three had to face defeat. A senior NC leader, Mushtaq Bukhari, who joined BJP early this year contested from Surankote but unfortunately died a week ago due to heart attack. An independent, Choudhary Mohammad Akram won from the seat.

Rajouri seat, which witnessed caste-based division in BJP over allotment of ticket to Vibodh Gupta, was won by Congress candidate Iftkar Ahmed. BJP workers were demanding ticket for district party president Dinesh Sharma from the seat.

The BJP was also able to win all seven Scheduled Caste (SC) reserved seats in Jammu region including Ramnagar, Kathua, Ramgarh, Bishnah, Suchetgarh, Marh and Akhnoor. Most of the areas along International Border having SC reserved seats, which have significant population of West Pakistani Refugees, who got the right to vote in Assembly polls for the first time after abrogation of Article 370.

In a statement on X, Amit Shah said, “The people of Jammu and Kashmir have blessed the BJP with the highest percentage of votes in this Assembly elections and have given the BJP the highest number of seats in its history so far. For this, I express my heartfelt gratitude to the people of Jammu and Kashmir”.

He further added, “Also, I congratulate all the workers of BJP for their tireless hard work. Under the leadership of Modiji, BJP is committed to the development and security of Jammu and Kashmir. Making Jammu and Kashmir terror-free and developing it like other parts of the country is the top priority of BJP.”

PDP secures 8.87% votes

The PDP, which was once a formidable force in Kashmir region, got just 8.87 per cent or 5,05,948 votes. The J&K National Panthers Party (JKNPP) got 1.16 per cent or 66,295 votes as per the Election Commission.

Meanwhile, Chief Electoral Officer PK Pole said, “This marked the first Assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir since 2014, drawing considerable attention and participation from the public”.

He said that the record-breaking voter turnout has reasserted and reaffirmed the faith of public in the institutions of democracy.

Bags highest vote share of 25.64

• The BJP was able to bag the highest percentage of vote share, while AAP got the lowest vote share among the major parties
• The percentage of vote share of BJP was recorded at 25.64 per cent, with the saffron party getting a total of 14,62,225 votes
• The National Conference stood second at 23.43 per cent, with 13,36,147 votes; Congress was able to get 11.97 per cent votes, with 6,82,666 votes; and Aam Aadmi Party got 0.52 per cent or 29,733 votes
• Independent candidates and smaller parties were able to get a vote share of 24.83 per cent or 14,16,080 votes
• Senior BJP leader Devender Singh Rana won with the highest margin of 30,272 in J&K. He got 48,113 votes from the Nagrota Assembly seat