Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, May 15: Fate of 78 candidates including two sitting Union Ministers, four sitting Lok Sabha members and one Rajya Sabha member apart from former Members of Parliament (MPs) and former Ministers, who were in fray for six Lok Sabha seats of Jammu and Kashmir would be decided tomorrow when counting of the votes would be taken up simultaneously at seven district headquarters.
The results of six Lok Sabha seats of Jammu and Kashmir are being seen as semi-final of the Assembly elections, which were due in the State in October-November this year. The elections results would have major impact on future politics of the State especially for four major players-National Conference, People’s Democratic Party (PDP), BJP and Congress, for whom the stakes were high not only in the Lok Sabha election but for the upcoming Assembly polls, the political observers felt.
National Conference and Congress are contesting three Lok Sabha seats each in alliance with each other while BJP is the only political party, which has fielded candidates on all six seats. PDP is contesting five seats as it has not fielded any candidate in Ladakh.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and PCC (I) chief Prof Saif-ud-Din Soz had maintained that the Alliance would win all six seats.
Of six seats, three are held by the National Conference (all in the Kashmir Valley) while NC’s coalition partners hold both seats of Jammu region (Jammu-Poonch and Udhampur-Doda). Ladakh seat was represented by Ghulam Hassan Khan, an Independent backed by the NC.
Ladakh is the lone Lok Sabha seat in the State, where counting of votes would be held at two district headquarters-Leh and Kargil while in remaining five Parliamentary seats, the votes would be counted at one district headquarter only.
The fate of Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy Dr Farooq Abdullah and Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Ghulam Nabi Azad, both of whom were former Chief Ministers of Jammu and Kashmir would be decided on Srinagar-Budgam and Udhampur-Doda Lok Sabha seats tomorrow. Dr Abdullah is NC president and has never lost an election in his political career while Azad, a Congress veteran, who has served as Minister at the Centre several times, is contesting first Lok Sabha election from his home State of Jammu and Kashmir though he had won the Lok Sabha election from Maharashtra twice in 1980 and 1984.
Tomorrow’s counting would also decide the fate of three BJP stalwarts including State party president Jugal Kishore Sharma, a two times MLA from Nagrota, who is contesting Lok Sabha election for the first time from Jammu-Poonch Parliamentary seat and is pitted against two consecutive times Lok Sabha member Madan Lal Sharma.
BJP national spokesperson and national executive member Dr Jitendra Singh is pitted against Azad in Udhampur-Doda seat while another party leader and former MP Thupstan Chhewang is involved in four cornered battle in Ladakh seat. Though the BJP has also fielded candidates in all three seats of the Valley, they were not expected to cut much ice.
Tomorrow’s outcome was also crucial for the major opposition party in Jammu and Kashmir-the PDP as the fate of party president and Leader of Opposition in Assembly, Mehbooba Mufti would be decided on Anantnag Lok Sabha seat tomorrow. She is pitted against sitting NC MP from Anantnag Lok Sabha seat, Dr Mehboob Beg. Mehbooba had won Anantnag seat in 2004 but didn’t contest 2009 general election.
Also, former Deputy Chief Minister and veteran PDP leader Muzaffar Hussain Baig is another prominent face of the party, who is seeking entry to Lok Sabha seat from Baramulla-Kupwara and is facing sitting NC MP Sharief-ud-Din Shariq.
Though Dr Farooq Abdullah has never lost an election in his political career, his fate in the current election would be decided tomorrow as Srinagar Lok Sabha seat has again recorded low turnout of about 27 per cent. He was facing PDP leader and former Finance Minister in Ghulam Nabi Azad regime, Tariq Hamid Qarra.
The stakes are high for both BJP and Congress in Ladakh, which were given tough fight by two Independent candidates as there were only four candidates in the fray in the mountain locked seat. Number of the candidate in Ladakh seat was lowest in Jammu and Kashmir.
Thupstan Chhewang, who had won 2004 Parliament election from Ladakh as an Independent candidate is BJP candidate this time facing Congress nominee Tsering Samphel and two formidable Independent candidates Syed Mohammad Kazim Sabri and Ghulam Raza.
Ladakh is the lone Lok Sabha seat, where counting of votes would be taken up at two district headquarters-Leh and Kargil. Counting of votes of Leh district would be taken up at Leh while that of Kargil district would be held at Kargil district headquarters.
SSP Kargil Sujit Kumar told the Excelsior that all security arrangements for counting of votes have been made.
In rest five Lok Sabha seats, counting of votes would take place at one place. Votes of Jammu-Poonch Lok Sabha seat would be counted at Jammu district while the counting for Udhampur-Doda Parliamentary seat would be held at Kathua district.
The votes for Srinagar-Budgam seat would be counted at district headquarters of Srinagar, for Baramulla-Kupwara seat at Baramulla and Anantnag-Pulwama seat at Anantnag.
The NC has fielded its all three sitting Lok Sabha MPs on three seats, which it was contesting under seat sharing agreement with Congress. They were Farooq Abdullah from Srinagar, Sharief-ud-Din Shariq from Baramulla and Dr Mehboob Beg from Anantnag, who had won the three seats in 2009 elections.
However, Congress has changed its two candidates. The party replaced two times MP from Udhampur-Doda Lok Sabha seat Lal Singh with political heavyweight Ghulam Nabi Azad and P Namgayal from Ladakh with Tsering Samphel. Namgayal had lost Ladakh seat with a little over 3000 votes to NC backed Independent candidate Ghulam Hassan Khan in 2009. Congress, however, had repeated its two times Jammu MP Madan Lal Sharma.
The BJP had fielded new faces in all three Lok Sabha seats Jammu, Udhampur and Ladakh, where it mattered.
The party had fielded its State chief Jugal Kishore Sharma on Jammu-Poonch seat replacing last time loser Leela Karan Sharma, Dr Jitendra Singh in Udhampur, replacing 2009 loser Dr Nirmal Singh and Thupstan Chhewang in Ladakh. In 2009, BJP had supported Independent Thineless Angmo in Ladakh.
A total of 78 candidates were in fray for Lok Sabha seats of J&K, the highest being 19 in Jammu followed by 15 each in Srinagar and Baramulla, 13 in Udhampur, 12 in Anantnag and 4 in Ladakh.
Official sources said the counting of votes would simultaneously start at 8 am at all places. The results of three seats of Kashmir and Ladakh were likely to be declared by 11 am as very less votes had been polled there while results of two Jammu seats were expected late in the afternoon.
Highest number of 13.05 lakh votes have been polled in Jammu seat followed by 10.43 lakh in Udhampur, 5.37 lakh in Baramulla, 3.64 lakh in Anantnag, 3.15 lakh in Srinagar and 1.14 lakh in Ladakh.
Authorities have made all arrangements for smooth counting.
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