Riding high on the 'crest' of Modi wave, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday retained all three Lok Sabha seats, two in Jammu division and one in Ladakh while National Conference, led by former Union Minister Dr Farooq Abdullah, staged a comeback by dislodging all three rival PDP candidates in Kashmir valley.
The cold desert region of Ladakh, initially witnessed a close fight between BJP and an independent candidate Sajjad Hussain. In the final tally, BJP's Jamyang Tsering Namgyal won the seat by a margin of over 9000 votes.Namgyal secured 41315 votes while Sajjad Hussain could secure 31552 votes only.
However, the biggest upset in the state was recorded on Anantnag LoK Sabha seat. Here, PDP Chief, Mehbooba Mufti, failed to garner majority votes. Despite running 'vitriolic' campaign against the BJP she finished at number three in the final tally of votes. Mehbooba had never lost any election in her two decade long political career. This is the first election she had contested in the absence of her mentor and PDP patron Mufti Mohd Sayeed.
In Srinagar, 83 year old Dr Farooq Abdullah won Srinagar seat,for the fourth time, by a margin of over 70,000 votes. He defeated PDP's rival candidate Aga Syed Mohsin. Dr Abdullah had secured 106750 votes.
In Jammu region, both the BJP candidates recorded historic victories over their rival candidates. MoS PMO, Dr Jitendra Singh, contesting Udhampur-Doda Lok Sabha seat for the second time, defeated Vikramaditya Singh of the Congress party by a record margin of over 3.48 lakh votes. Dr Karan Singh, father of Vikramaditya Singh and congress stalwart Ghulam Nabi Azad had campaigned in support of the NC-Congress joint candidate.
BJP's Jugal Kishore Sharma, contesting from Jammu-Poonch Lok Sabha seat, bettered his previous record. He defeated Congress candidate Raman Bhalla by a margin of over 2.88 lakh votes. In 2014, he had defeated Congress candidate by a margin of 2.57 lakh votes. Jugal Kishore secured 839385 votes while his rival garnered 550922 votes.
In Anantnag, National Conference candidate, Justice (Retd) Hasnain Masoodi defeated JKPCC Chief,GA. Mir, his rival candidate of Congress party, by a margin of over 7000 votes. Mehbooba Mufti stood third. She secured 30223 votes (24.6 percent) of the total votes polled.
In Baramulla, former J&K Assembly speaker Mohd Akbar Lone defeated his rival candidate of Peoples Conference, Raja Aijaz Ali by a margin of over 29,000 votes. In all three Lok Sabha seats, BJP candidates could garner less than 20,000 votes collectively. BJP MLC, Mohd Yousaf Sofi secured 9687 votes from Anantnag, Mohd Maqbool War from Baramulla secured 5448 votes while journalist turned BJP leader Sheikh Khalid Jehangir secured 4631 votes from Srinagar Lok Sabha seat. Rebel BJP leader Lal Singh, who had contested from both the Lok Sabha seats in Jammu failed to make significant impact.Singh had floated Dogra Swabhimaan Sangathan party after resigning from the BJP in the aftermath of controversy over Kathua rape and murder case of a minor Gujjar girl.
Lal Singh secured 6848 votes from Jammu-Poonch Lok Sabha seat and 18470 votes from Udhampur-Doda seat. Refugee leader Rajiv Chunni, who claimed support of refugees, could only secure 1256 votes from Jammu-Poonch Lok Sabha seat.
Meanwhile, reacting to the poll results, National Conference Vice President and former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP Chief Amit Shah for their stellar performance in the polls.Omar tweeted, "So the exit polls were correct. All that’s left is to congratulate the BJP & NDA for a stellar performance. Credit where credit is due PM Modi Sahib & Mr Amit Shah put together a winning alliance & a very professional campaign. Bring on the next five years".
PDP Chief Mehbooba Mufti while conceding defeat also posted a message on her twitter timeline. She wrote, I’ve been fortunate to get the love & affection of my people. They have every right to express their anger for my failings. Accept their verdict with humility. Congratulations to winning candidates from NC. I’m grateful to my party workers & colleagues. Mehbooba also wrote, "Congratulations to Narendra Modi ji for a historic mandate. Today surely belongs to BJP and it’s allies. Time for Congress to get an Amit Shah".
Addressing a press conference in Srinagar, Dr Farooq Abdullah expressed hope that the new government in Delhi will do justice with Jammu and Kashmir.
“We hope the new government in Delhi will do justice with J-K and engage in dialogue with Pakistan so that we are taken out of this morass,” he said.
Asked about the UPA’s performance in the polls, he declined to comment, saying “what has happened, has happened, I will not say anything on that".
Former IAS officer who recently floated his own political party Shah Faesal tweeted, "Congratulations to @narendramodi @BJP4India for the landslide win. The mandate must be respected. We in J&K are hopeful that tempers will be allowed to calm down. In this second term, @narendramodi can make history by reaching out to the people of J&K. Kashmir has to heal".
After the results were formally declared the BJP workers erupted in jubilation and took out victory processions in Jammu and Kathua. Party workers danced to the tunes of drum beats and distributed specially made 'ladoos' among the local people to celebrate their victory outside their party headquarters.
