Highest 19 Independents secure 2nd spot; BJP, NC follow with 11 each
Bivek Mathur
JAMMU, Oct 14: People’s Democratic Party (PDP), which managed the highest 28 seats in the 2014 Assembly polls to form a Government with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), could secure only three Assembly seats in the 2024 Assembly polls. However, the party still secured the most second-place finishes in the Kashmir valley after the National Conference, and the Congress, which was reduced to half of its 2014 tally of 12 seats, managed the highest second spot in the Jammu region.
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As per the details available on the Election Commission of India’s website, National Conference won 35 Assembly seats from the Kashmir valley and seven from the Jammu region. Similarly, BJP emerged as the largest political force in the Jammu region with 29 seats.
An analysis of the runner-up candidates from either region of the UT revealed that PDP was the second major political force in the Valley, with 17 candidates finishing at number 2. Only one candidate of the party stood second in the Jammu region. Similarly, the Congress party had the highest 16 runners-up in the Jammu region. In the Valley, there was only one runner-up from the party.
Overall, Independent candidates dominated the second spots in the UT, with the highest number being 19-12 in the Valley and seven in the Jammu region. While both NC and BJP got an equal 11 second spot in the UT, the former had nine second spot in the Jammu region and two in the Valley, while the latter had seven second spot in the Jammu region and four in the Valley.
Both Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party (JKAP) and Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Conference (JKPC) got an equal five second spot in the Kashmir valley, as no candidate from these parties was in the contest with the toppers in the Jammu region. Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party (India) got two second spots in the Jammu region, while both BSP and PDF(S) got one such spot in the Jammu and Kashmir regions, respectively.
Among the PDP’s runners-up are Mehboob Beg, who lost by 1,686 votes to Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed of Congress from Anantnag, Abdul Gaffar Sofi, who lost by 10,435 votes from Anantnag West to Abdul Majeed Bhat of National Conference, and Imtiaz Ahmed Shan, who lost by 6,110 votes from Banihal to Sajad Shaheen of National Conference.
Aga Syed Muntazir Mehdi lost by a margin of 18,485 votes to Omar Abdullah from Budgam, Mohammad Yaseen Bhat lost by a margin of 17,218 votes from Chadoora to Ali Mohammad Dar, Ghulam Nabi Lone lost by 11,496 votes from Chrar-i-Sharief to Advocate Abdul Rahim Rather of National Conference, and Gulzar Ahmad Dar lost by 17,449 votes to Sakeena Masood from DH Pora.
Mohammad Sartaj Madni lost by 840 votes from Devsar to Peerzada Feroze Ahmad, Mohammad Ashraf Malik lost by 29,728 votes to GA Mir of Congress from Dooru, and Bashir Ahmad Mir lost by 10,574 votes to Omar Abdullah from Ganderbal. Asiea Naqash lost by 10,295 votes to Salman Sagar of National Conference from Hazratbal, and Syed Jamat Ali Shah was defeated by 3,819 votes by Mian Mehar Ali from Kangan.
Haroon Rashid Khatana was defeated by 6,162 votes by Zafar Ali Khatana from Kokernag, Zahoor Ahmad Mir was defeated by 2,763 votes by Hasnain Masoodi of National Conference from Pampore, and Syed Bashir Ahmad was defeated by 14,313 votes by Ghulam Mohi-ud-Din of NC from Rajpora. Abdul Rehman Bhat was defeated by Reyaz Ahmad Khan of NC by 14,532 votes from Shangus Anantnag East, Iltija Mehbooba Mufti was defeated by 9,770 votes by Bashir Ahmad Veeri of NC from Srigufwara Bijbehara, and Syed Basharat Ahmed Bukhari was defeated by Irfan Hafiz Lone of Congress by 7,751 votes from Wagoora Kreeri.
Among the Congress candidates who stood at number two in the region are Ashok Kumar, who lost by 24,679 votes from Akhnoor to Mohan Lal Bhagat of BJP, Taranjit Singh Tony, who lost by 11,251 votes from Bahu to Vikram Randhawa of BJP, and Choudhary Lal Singh, who lost by 16,034 votes from Basohli to Darshan Kumar of BJP. Dr. Manohar Lal Sharma lost by 21,638 votes from Billawar to Satish Sharma of BJP, Pardeep Kumar lost by 3,453 votes from Doda West to Shakti Raj Parihar of BJP, and Neeraj Kundan lost by 15,627 votes from Bishnah to Rajeev Kumar of BJP.
Rakesh Kumar lost by 8,610 votes from Hiranagar to Vijay Kumar of BJP, Yogesh Sawhney lost by 18,114 votes from Jammu East to Yudhvir Sethi of BJP, and Manmohan Singh lost by 22,127 votes from Jammu West to Arvind Gupta of BJP. Mula Ram lost by 23,086 votes from Marh to Surinder Kumar of BJP, Raman Bhalla lost by 1,966 votes from RS Pura to Dr. Narinder Singh of BJP, and Yash Paul Kundal lost by 14,202 votes from Ramgarh to Dr. Devinder Kumar Manyal of BJP.
Mumtaz Ahmed lost by 18,815 votes to Kuldeep Raj Dubey of BJP from Reasi, Bhushan Lal lost by 11,141 votes from Suchetgarh to Gharu Ram of BJP, Mohammad Shahnawaz lost by 8,851 votes to Choudhary Mohammad Akram (Independent) from Surankote, Surinder Singh lost by 460 votes from Tral to Rafiq Ahmad Naik of PDP, and Sumeet Magotra lost by 20,752 votes from Udhampur West Assembly segment to Pawan Gupta of BJP.
The Independents who stood at number two in the region are Usman Abdul Majid, who lost by 811 votes from Bandipora to Nizam-ud-Din Bhat of Congress, Shoaib Nabi Lone, who lost by 11,743 votes to Javid Hassan Baig of NC from Baramulla, and Nazir Ahmad Khan, who lost by 4,161 votes from Beerwah to Shafi Ahmad Wani of NC. Muhammad Irfan Shah lost by 14,395 votes from Central Shalteng to Tariq Hameed Karra of Congress, Ghulam Nabi Bhat lost by 1,680 votes from Eidgah to Mubarak Gul of NC, and Aijaz Ahmad Khan lost by 6,527 votes from Gulabgarh to Khurshid Ahmed of NC.
GM Saroori lost by 643 votes from Inderwal to Independent Pyare Lal Sharma, Brijeshwar Singh lost by 12,420 votes from Jasrota to Rajiv Jasrotia of BJP, and Sheikh Imran lost by 9,912 votes from Khanyar to Ali Mohammad Sagar of NC. Sayar Ahmad Reshi lost by 7,838 votes to MY Tarigami of CPI (M) from Kulgam,
Dawood Bashir Bhat lost by 7,871 votes from Lolab to Qaysar Jamshaid Lone of NC, and Suraj Singh Parihar lost by 9,013 votes from Ramban to Arjun Singh Raju of NC. Ravinder Singh lost by 30,309 votes from Samba to Surjeet Singh Slathia of BJP, Jugal Kishore lost by 1,995 votes from Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra to Baldev Raj of BJP, and Yasir Reshi lost by 13,744 votes from Sonawari to Hilal Akbar Lone of NC.
Mursaleen Aajir lost by 20,356 votes from Sopore to Irshad Rasool Kar of NC, Pawan Khajuria lost by 2,349 votes from Udhampur East to RS Pathania of BJP, Taj Mohi-ud-Din lost by 14,469 votes from Uri to Sajjad Shafi of NC, and Aijaz Ahmad Mir lost by 13,323 votes from Zainapora Assembly segment to Showkat Hussain Ganie of NC.
The Bharatiya Janata Party candidates who stood second in the race are Jewan Lal, who lost by 2,048 votes from Bani to Independent candidate Dr. Rameshwar Singh, Chowdhary Zulfkar Ali, who lost by 18,908 votes from Budhal to NC’s Javaid Iqbal, and Rajeev Sharma, who lost by 6,929 votes from Chhamb to Independent Satish Sharma. Gajay Singh Rana lost by 4,538 votes from Doda to Mehraj Malik of Aam Aadmi Party, Faqeer Mohammad Khan lost by 1,132 votes from Gurez to Nazir Ahmad Khan of NC, and Ashok Kumar Bhat lost by 9,538 votes from Habbakadal to Shamim Firdous of NC.
Murtaza Ahmed Khan lost by 14,906 votes from Mendhar to Javed Ahmed Rana of NC, Ravinder Raina lost by 7,819 votes from Nowshera to Surinder Choudhary of NC, Chowdhary Abdul Ghani lost by 20,879 votes from Poonch Haveli to Ajaz Ahmed Jan of NC, Vibodh Gupta lost by 1404 votes from Rajouri to Iftkar Ahmed of INC, and Mohammad Iqbal Malik lost by 6179 votes from Thannamandi Assembly segment to Independent candidate Muzaffar Iqbal Khan.
As for the NC candidates who secured second place, Sheikh Mehboob Iqbal lost by 10,130 votes from Bhaderwah to Daleep Singh of BJP, Chowdry Mohammad Ramzan lost by 662 votes from Handwara to Sajad Gani Lone of Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Conference, Ajay Sadhotra lost by 27,363 votes from Jammu North to Sham Lal Sharma of BJP, while Yashu Vardhan Singh lost by 14,409 votes from Kalakote Sunderbani to Randhir Singh of BJP.
Sajjad Ahmed Kichloo lost by 521 votes from Kishtwar to Shagun Parihar of BJP, Nasir Aslam Wani lost by 9,797 votes from Kupwara to Mir Mohammad Fayaz of PDP, Joginder Singh lost by 30,472 votes from Nagrota to Devinder Singh Rana of BJP, Pooja Thakur lost by 1,546 votes from Padder Nagseni to Sunil Sharma of BJP, while Mohammad Khalil Band lost by 8,148 votes from Pulwama to Waheed Ur Rehman Para of PDP.
Similarly Sheikh Mohammad Rafi was defeated by Independent candidate Shabir Ahmad Kullay by a margin of 1,207 votes in Shopian and Rajesh Kumar Pargotra lost by 19,040 votes from Vijaypur to Chander Parkash Ganga of BJP.
The Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party’s runners-up included Rafi Ahmed Mir, who lost by 13,756 votes from Pahalgam to Altaf Ahmad Wani of NC, party president Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari, who was defeated by Mushtaq Guroo of NC by 5,688 votes from Chanapora, GH Mir was defeated by Pirzada Farooq Ahmed Shah of NC by 4,191 votes from Gulmarg, while Mohammad Ashraf Mir lost by 11,343 votes from Lal Chowk to Sheikh Ahsan Ahmed of NC, and Yawar Ahmad Mir lost by 9,202 votes from Rafiabad to Javid Ahmad Dar of NC.
Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Conference runners-up were Abid Hussain Ansari, who lost by 16,173 votes from Zadibal to Tanvir Sadiq of NC, Bashir Ahmad Dar, who was defeated by Saifullah Mir of NC by 3,626 votes from Trehgam, Imran Raza Ansari lost by 603 votes from Pattan to Javaid Riyaz of NC, Naseer Ahmad Awan lost by 6,262 votes from Karnah to Javaid Ahmad Mirchal of NC, and Irfan Sultan Pandithpuri lost by 1,602 votes from Langate to Independent candidate Khursheed Ahmad Sheikh.
Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party (India) leader Harsh Dev Singh was runner-up from Chenani, losing to BJP’s Balwant Singh Mankotia by 15,611 votes and the party’s nominee from Ramnagar, Ashri Devi, came in second after losing to BJP’s Sunil Bhardwaj by a margin of 9,306 votes.
Sandeep Majotra of Bahujan Samaj Party lost by 12,117 votes in the Kathua Assembly segment to Dr Bharat Bhushan of BJP and Hakeem Mohammad Yaseen Shah of PDF (Secular) was defeated by Saif ud Din Bhat of National Conference by 11,614 votes.
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