National Conference gets right to rule after J&K assembly polls results
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Srinagar: The National Conference performed remarkably well in the first assembly elections held in Jammu and Kashmir following the repeal of Article 370, winning 42 seats and securing the right to form a new government with its alliance partner, the Congress.
For all the high-pitched campaigns by the BJP, its ‘Naya Kashmir’ narrative managed to add just four seats, raising its tally to 29. NC leader Omar Abdullah would be the new chief minister. Only Rajouri (ST), one of the Congress's six seats in the Jammu area, was won by the party in a dismal performance. The remaining five came from the Kashmir Valley.
For the seventh time in a row, NC-Congress ally and leader of the CPI (M), Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami, held onto his seat in Kulgam.
At least two dissidents from the NC and Congress have run for office and won, so the total may rise. They'll probably return back to their parties. Though it only ran for 51 seats, the NC had a fairly high strike rate. Compared to the 2014 assembly elections, it had a 2.66% increase in the number of votes cast, but it also gained 27 more members in terms of seats.
In addition, the NC and Congress engaged in friendly sparring for five seats. Additionally, Omar's party took home seven seats in the Jammu area, the New Indian Express reported.
The results of the election represent a blow to the BJP. In his native Rajouri constituency of Nowshera, Ravindra Raina, the party's president for J&K, was defeated by Surinder Choudhary of NC.
Workers from the NC and Congress celebrated their victory by dancing and popping crackers. “The result has shown that the NC is a force to reckon with and can’t be crushed,” said a party worker Ghulam Ahmed.
Omar ran for two seats, Budgam and Ganderbal, and won both of them. Initially, he had been hesitant to run for assembly until statehood was restored.
