The People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), an amalgam of seven political parties in Jammu & Kahsmir, was leading in the first-ever District Development Council (DDC) elections in Jammu & Kashmir, the counting of which was underway late on Tuesday. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), however, emerged as a dark horse, with reports suggesting that it would be the single-largest party in the Union Territory. In a first, the party has also opened its account in Kashmir Valley where it has won 2 seats.
At the time of filing this report, the Jammu and Kashmir state election authority had announced the results for 236 of the 280 seats. Of these, the BJP won 64 of them, the NC 54, independents 39, the PDP 25, and the Congress 20 seats, among others. The Centre-backed JK Apni Party won 10 seats so far.
In the leads available for 277 of the 280 seats, the PAGD was leading on at least 112 seats, the BJP on 74 seats, the Congress on 26 seats, the JK Apni Party on 13 seats. The independents won or were leading on at least 52 seats.
The BJP also won two seats in Kashmir division, including one in Srinagar. These two wins are the BJP’s first victory in an election from any seat in Kashmir division.
Overall, in the 20 districts in J&K, while the PAGD and the Congress were set to bag at least 12 district councils, the BJP was winning six districts of Jammu division, according to reports. Two districts, including Srinagar where independents won half of the seats, were still up for the grab, according to reports.
Omar Abdullah, one of the senior leaders of PAGD, said that it is a vote against all the decisions taken by the Central government on 5 August 2019 against the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
Talking to the media, Omar said that the Central government in these DDC elections used “muscle, money and Central agencies” to discourage PAGD to campaign in these elections.
Similarly PAGD vice president Mehbooba Mufti has congratulated her jailed colleague Waheed Parra for winning from Pulwama district of South Kashmir. She tweeted, “Couldn’t be prouder of PDP’s @parawahid who won his maiden election by a huge margin of votes. Despite being arrested on baseless charges right after filing his nomination people have shown their love & trust for Waheed. Hope justice prevails”.
Though the BJP has fared well in the Jammu region, Omar Abdullah expresses his apprehension that the divide between Kashmir and Jammu is becoming more deep and dangerous by the communal campaign of the BJP.
WITH AGENCY INPUTS