Srinagar: In a heavily-fractured verdict in Jammu and Kashmir, the PDP on Tuesday emerged as the single largest party throwing many possibilities in government formation.
With 28 seats, the PDP was in a pole position to form the government but the party appeared to be keeping all options open like the BJP which has won 25 seats, all in the Jammu region, recording its best performance in the state.
However, the BJP, for whom Prime Minister Narendra Modi carried out an extensive ‘Mission 44+’ campaign in the 87 member Jammu and Kashmir Assembly, failed to make any breakthrough in the Valley and Ladakh where it drew a blank in 50 seats.
The party has more than doubled its seats from 11 in 2008 to 25 now while the PDP went up from 21 to 28.
The ruling National Conference was routed when it secured only 17 seats against 28 it had won in the last elections.
Chief Minister and NC President Omar Abdullah lost from Sonawar seat but managed to cling on to Beerwah with a slender margin of 1000 votes.
Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Rather was among the prominent losers. Omar defeated Congress’ Nazir Ahmed in Beerwah but lost to PDP candidate Mohammad Ashraf Mir from Sonawar seat while Rather was defeated by opposition party’s Ghulam Nabi Lone from Charar-e-Sharief. This was Rather’s first defeat in assembly elections since 1977.
Among the prominent winners were People’s Democratic Party patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed from Anantnag and former JK Bank chairman Haseeb Drabu from Pulawama as the party swept all four Assembly seats in Pulwama district.
Separatist turned mainstream politician Sajjad Gani Lone defeated National Conference minister Choudhary Mohammad Ramzan from Handwara.
Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand of Congress lost to BJP’s Krishan Lal from Chamb constituency by a margin of 14,790 votes.
Its partner in the government Congress slipped to the fourth position getting 12 seats against 17 it had. Jammu Kashmir People Conference headed by former separatist Sajjad Lone won two seats while JKPDF (secular) and CPI-M won one seat each. Independents won in three seats.
As the picture became clear, BJP President Amit Shah said all three options were open for the party.
“The option of forming the government, the option of supporting a government and the option of participating in a government are all open,” Shah told reporters in Delhi.
To further questions, he said it is for the media to guess what the BJP would do. The party’s parliamentary board will meet tomorrow to discuss the situation.
In Srinagar, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti also kept everyone guessing.
“Our priority will not be to cobble together a government by hook or crook. It will take time to explore possibilities and formation of government to meet the people’s expectations and good governance. It is difficult to say when it will materialise,” she told reporters.
Outgoing Chief Minister Omar Abdullah also did not reveal his party’s plan except to claim that the National Conference cannot be ignored in the current situation. “The NC will be a serious player in whatever unveils in Jammu and Kashmir in the next few days,” he said.
Interestingly, BJP has emerged the largest party in terms of vote share in Jammu and Kashmir securing 23 per cent votes despite the washout in terms of seats in the Valley and Ladakh.
The PDP came next with 22.7 per cent, National Conference got 20.8 per cent while Congress recorded 18 per cent of votes.
