Congress piggybacks on National Conference wave in J&K

On Tuesday, as the National Conference-Congress alliance bagged 49 seats out of 90 in Jammu and Kashmir Assembly polls, it was the National Conference’s stellar performance in Kashmir which gave a boost to the alliance unlike its partner Congress’ dismal show in Jammu, which managed to win only one seat there.

Before the Assembly elections, the NC and Congress had announced a pre-poll alliance. While the National Conference contested 51 seats, Congress got 32 seats, most of them in Jammu.

As the results on Tuesday showed, the National Conference won 35 seats in Kashmir Valley and seven in Jammu region. On the other hand, Congress bagged six seats—one in Jammu and five in Kashmir.

Of the five seats it won in Kashmir valley, Congress’ top face Ghulam Ahmad Mir registered victory from Dooru assembly segment with a margin of nearly 30,000 votes- the highest margin by any candidate in Kashmir region.

The other four seats won by the party include North Kashmir’s segments of Bandipora and Wagoora-Kreeri. While former PDP leader Nizam Uddin Bhat, who recently joined Congress, managed to win from Bandipora, Irfan Hafiz Lone won Wagoora Kreeri seat in Baramulla district. The party’s UT chief Tariq Hameed Karra won the Central Shalteng seat in Srinagar district, while former minister Peerzada Mohammad Syed clinched Anantnag seat.

The only seat which the Congress party won in Jammu region was Rajouri (ST) seat, where the party’s candidate Iftkar Ahmed defeated BJP’s Vibod Kumar by a thin margin of 1,404 votes.

One of the factors behind the Congress party’s poor performance in Jammu region was a sluggish poll campaign by the top leadership. During the campaigning, its alliance partner National Conference had also raised the issue of the party’s lack of focus on Jammu.

A senior Congress leader in Jammu conceded the lack of aggressiveness in the campaign behind its poor performance in Jammu division. “It was a combination of factors including a low key campaign by senior leadership and even issues in ticket distribution at several places,” said the leader. He said BJP was able to create a narrative against Congress party in Jammu region and managed to consolidate votes.

Among the top leaders, who lost in Jammu include former minister and working president of the Congress’ J&K unit Raman Bhalla, Congress leader Choudhary Lal Singh and former JK Congress chief Vikar Rasool Wani.