JAMMU & KASHMIR ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS 2024 RESULT

STATE TIMES NEWS

Srinagar/Jammu: The INDIA bloc is poised to form the first elected government in Jammu and Kashmir, having secured a victory in the assembly elections by securing 49 out of 90 seats on which polls were held for the first time since the abrogation of Article 370 five years ago.
The National Conference (NC), the oldest regional party in J&K, emerged as the clear frontrunner, winning 42 seats and falling just six seats short of a majority of its own.
Meanwhile, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] managed to secure the single seat allotted to it under the seat-sharing agreement, while the Congress party won six seats, with five of those in the Kashmir valley.

The elections in J&K virtually turned a nightmare for the Congress as it won only one seat in the Jammu region.
The BJP also made notable gains, winning 29 seats — its best performance in J&K to date, up from 25 seats in the 2014 elections.
Despite the defeat of J&K BJP president Ravindra Raina, the party’s vote share increased from 23 per cent in 2014 to 25.64 per cent this year.
However, political analysts do not read much into the increased tally of the BJP and mainly attribute it to the recent delimitation of assembly seats in which many strongholds of the BJP were bifurcated into two like Kishtwar and Nagrota and others in Jammu district.
The NC saw a rise in its vote share as well, improving from 20.77 per cent in 2014 to 23.43 per cent this election cycle.
In contrast, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) experienced significant losses, winning only three seats compared to 28 in 2014 and witnessing its vote share drop from 22.67 per cent to just 8.87 per cent.
The Congress also faced a decline, securing only six seats — down from 12 seats a decade ago — with a corresponding drop in vote share from 18 per cent to approximately 12 per cent.
There are only three women winners — Sakina Masood, Shamima Firdous (both NC) and Shagun Parihar (BJP) — among the 90 successful candidates.
Two NC veterans — Abdul Rahim Rather (Chrar-e-Sharief) and Ali Mohammad Sagar (Khanyar) — have won for the seventh term as MLA in J&K.
Among the other key winners were NC vice president Omar Abdullah, J&K Congress president Tariq Hamid Karra, PDP youth president Waheed Para and BJP leader Devender Rana.
The key losers include former deputy chief minister Muzaffar Hussain Baig (Independent), Congress leader Tara Chand, PCC working president Raman Bhalla, former PCC president Vaqar Rsool Wani and NC provincial president Nasir Aslam Wani.
Omar Abdullah, a likely candidate for the chief minister’s position after winning in both Budgam and Ganderbal, expressed gratitude to the electorate for their support.
“We are committed to serving the people and addressing their concerns in this new mandate,” he stated.
Abdullah said many attempts were made to destroy his party over the last five years by creating new outfits which have been decimated in this election.
“There were attempts to destroy the NC over the last five years. So many parties were created here, whose only aim was to destroy the NC. But, God’s grace has been on us and those who tried to destroy us, have been decimated in the process,” Abdullah told reporters here after receiving his winning certificate from the returning officer for the Budgam seat.
He said the verdict has increased the party’s responsibilities.
PDP president Mehbooba Mufti, while congratulating the NC-Congress alliance for the victory, said the Centre should take a lesson from the decisive verdict of the Jammu and Kashmir assembly polls and “not meddle” in the affairs of the upcoming NC-Congress government.
She said her party would play the role of a constructive opposition.
“I congratulate the NC leadership for its spectacular win. I also want to congratulate the people of J&K for voting for a stable government and not a hung assembly because the people faced several problems especially after August 5, 2019. A stable and strong government is very important for the redressal of those problems,” Mufti told reporters here.
CPI(M) candidate Mohamad Yousuf Tarigami won the assembly election from the Kulgam seat in for the fifth consecutive time, defeating former member of banned Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) Sayar Ahmad Reshi by more than 7,800 votes.
The counting of votes began at 8 am at 28 counting centres for the 90 seats of Jammu and Kashmir assembly which went to polls in three phases.

CEO lauds all stakeholders, extends gratitude

JAMMU: The Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections 2024 have concluded successfully, marking a significant moment in the UT’s democratic process.
“This marked the first assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir since 2014, drawing considerable attention and participation from the public”, stated Chief Electoral Officer, P K Pole on Tuesday.
The record-breaking voter turnout has reasserted and reaffirmed the faith of public in the institutions of democracy, exhibiting and testifying explicitly the unwavering belief of masses in the power of ballot.
The elections were held in three phases, with 24 constituencies voting in the first phase, followed by 26 in the second and 40 in the third. A total of 873 candidates contested for the opportunity to represent their communities in the 90-member legislative assembly. Voter turnout was robust, reflecting a renewed enthusiasm for democratic engagement in the region.
The Chief Election Officer appreciated the collaborative efforts of all stakeholders, extending his gratitude to the District Election Officers (DEOs), FSTs, SSTs, VSTs, VVTs, more than 75000 polling staff, Command and Control Room Staff, Nodal officers of all the activities, security personnel done commendable job and most importantly, the electorates. “The successful conduct of these elections is a testament to the dedication of everyone involved and the commitment of the people of Jammu and Kashmir to participate in the democratic process,” he stated.
Election authorities ensured that adequate measures were in place to maintain security and facilitate a smooth voting process, addressing concerns that had previously affected voter turnout in the region.
As the counting of votes concludes, the outcomes will determine the political landscape in Jammu and Kashmir for the coming years. The elections not only symbolize a step towards restoring normalcy but also reflect the resilience of the people in exercising their democratic rights.

We expect PM to do honourable thing by restoring statehood to J&K: Omar

 

“INDIA bloc to stake claim to form Govt only after partners elect leader of coalition”

Srinagar: National Conference leader Omar Abdullah on Monday said he expects Prime Minister Narendra Modi to do the “honourable thing” by restoring the statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.
“A lot of things can be done as a Union Territory, clearly some things can’t but we expect that J&K will not remain a UT forever. We expect the honourable PM will do the honourable thing and return statehood to JK at the earliest and then the rest of our manifesto will be implemented,” the NC vice president, who is tipped to be the next chief minister of J&K, told PTI Videos.
Abdullah, who led the NC-Congress alliance to a victory in the J&K assembly polls, hoped that the prime minister will fulfil his promise of restoring statehood to the people of the UT. “The prime minister, the home minister, they are all honourable men. In their speeches and interventions in Parliament, through their representative in the Supreme Court, they have promised restoration of statehood. So I believe it should happen at the earliest. And then obviously our priorities will go forward from there,” he added.
In response to a question, Abdullah said the J&K government cannot afford to have an antagonistic relation with the Centre.
“Once the new government is in place, whoever the chief minister of J-K is, I would expect them to travel to Delhi to meet the PM, the home minister and other leaders to impress upon them that the mandate of the people of J-K was for restoration of statehood, was for development and peace and whoever the CM is, I hope they are able to establish a decent working relationship with the GoI.
“There are far too many problems that J-K has and it cannot afford an antagonistic relationship with the Central government. We will have to find a way of working together, and I hope that the Union government will respect the mandate of the people and will work together with the government of J-K to resolve the problems of the people,” he added.
Abdullah said the NC legislature party will meet to elect its leader which will be followed by an alliance meeting to decide on the leader of the coalition.
“At the moment, it is for the National Conference legislature party to sit and choose its leader; that has not yet been done. I think that my colleagues deserve at least one day to celebrate their victories in their areas, so tomorrow we will do that,” he said.
The NC vice president said in a day or two, he expects party president Farooq Abdullah to call the legislature party meeting.
“The legislature party will elect its leader, then the alliance will elect the leader of the alliance and then once the letters of support are available, then we will stake our claim to form a government to the lieutenant governor. Beyond that, it is not for me to put priorities because none of that has been done yet,” he added.
Asked about PDP extending support to the coalition government, Abdullah said it is for that party to decide.
“I cannot speak for the PDP. It is for the PDP to decide what to do. We have no channels of communication with the PDP at the moment as far as I know.
“In due course, let’s see what the PDP decides. I can understand the circumstances at the moment and are probably looking more at what happened to their electoral prospects. So let the dust settle then we will see,” he said.
On the NC performance in the polls, Abdullah said while he expected to do well, he did not expect such a high number of seats. “Speaking for myself, I did not expect these kinds of numbers. I did not expect the National Conference to come with these many seats. Yesterday night somebody messaged me, asking how NC will do.
“I said anything around 30 or above will be a good performance. I feel humbled by the faith people have reposed in me but it is scary because we have to live up to this faith and that is our biggest responsibility now,” he said.
Reminded about the “We will be back” tweet after his party’s defeat in the 2014 assembly polls, Abdullah said he did not expect to wait for 10 years to be back.
“I did not expect to have to wait 10 years. It has been a long wait, all those 10 years, and since 2018 we have been without an elected government at all.
“So, more than being back, I am happy that democracy is back, that democratic rule is being restored to Jammu and Kashmir. So yes, I would rephrase that tweet and say ‘democracy is back’,” he said.