It was a mixed day for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as Election Commission results indicated they might not secure any seats in Haryana, but they celebrated a significant win in Jammu and Kashmir. AAP marked its first victory in the Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections, with candidate Mehraj Malik defeating his nearest rival from the BJP in the Doda constituency by 4,538 votes.
To congratulate Malik, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal held a video call with him. “The workers are very happy that now we have an AAP MLA in Jammu and Kashmir,” Kejriwal said.
While AAP currently governs in Delhi and Punjab, it also holds seats in Gujarat and Goa. In Jammu and Kashmir, the party fielded seven candidates across the 90 assembly segments.
Kejriwal praised Malik for “doing good work” and noted that “people are with you.”
Watch the video here:
Spoke to Mehraj Malik, AAP’s star of the day… pic.twitter.com/YZqx5g88m4
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) October 8, 2024
Malik expressed his gratitude and invited Kejriwal to visit Kashmir, stating, “On 10th at 2 pm, we will wait for you. The public here will wait for you.” The Delhi Chief Minister accepted the invitation, promising, “I will come. I will come for sure on the 10th.”
The excited leader asked Kejriwal to stay on the line while he collected his certificate from the returning officer. Malik, a member of the District Development Council (DDC), received 23,228 votes, defeating BJP’s Gajay Singh Rana, who garnered 18,690 votes. National Conference leader and former minister Khalid Najib Suharwardy received 13,334 votes, while DPAP leader Abdul Majid Wani secured 10,027 votes. Congress candidate Sheikh Riaz Ahmad came in fifth with just 4,170 votes.
Earlier this year, Malik had an unsuccessful bid in the Lok Sabha elections from the Udhampur constituency.
This marks the first assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir since 2014, and the National Conference (NC) and Congress alliance is expected to form the government. The NC and Congress secured 47 of the 90 assembly seats, well ahead of the BJP’s 27, according to Election Commission data. The halfway mark is set at 46.