Parties keep fingers crossed ahead of counting in J&K

Arjun Sharma/Adil Akhzer

The stage is set for the counting of votes for 90 Assembly seats on Tuesday, amid tight security arrangements. A day ahead of the verdict, parties have kept their fingers crossed.

The three-phase elections to the 90-member J&K Assembly were held after a gap of 10 years. J&K recorded an overall voter turnout of 63.88 per cent in the 2024 Assembly elections against 65.84 per cent in the 2014 elections.

On Tuesday, the BJP would expect to secure at least 30 seats in Jammu to maintain its dominance in the Hindu-dominated division. If the saffron party manages to bag over 30 seats, it would eye for smaller parties and independents in the Valley to form a BJP-led government in the UT.

The exit polls have given an edge to the saffron party in the Jammu region by projecting its win on 25-30 seats.

All eyes will be on the Congress as it would expect to secure enough seats to give thrust to the alliance with the National Conference. The Congress was criticised for lagging behind in the campaigning as its top leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi, did not visit the region for all phases of the elections unlike the BJP whose leaders such as Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh visited J&K several times.

The BJP faced resistance from rebels who contested as independents in various constituencies. The Congress also witnessed the similar situation in some areas. However, senior leaders managed the situation before it could damage the party.

It would be interesting to watch how the BJP performs in Hindu-dominated areas of the Jammu region, especially Kathua, Samba, Jammu and Udhampur districts, which witnessed terror attacks before the polls.

The NC would expect to secure as many seats in Ramban, Kishtwar, Rajouri and Poonch districts in Muslim-dominated areas of the Jammu region. The BJP had rolled out an aggressive campaign in these areas.

In the Kashmir region, all eyes will be on the National Conference, which is contesting most of the seats in Kashmir in alliance with the Congress. As per the exit polls, if the National Conference secures most of the seats in Kashmir, it would give push to the alliance, which is eying to form the government in the UT.

In the Valley, Sajad Lone-led Peoples Conference, Engineer Rashid-led Awami Ittehad Party, Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party, Jamaat-backed candidates and also several Independents could play a role in the formation of the government.

The saffron party, which is expecting its first-ever victory in the Valley - Gurez in North Kashmir, would hope that independents backed by the BJP or small parties win as many seats in Kashmir, which could help them form a government in J&K.

The PDP, which is projected to get around 6-9 seats, as per the exit polls, would also like to bag as many seats to become a “kingmaker” in the government formation.