BJP fails to open account in Valley
Suhail Bhat
Srinagar, Oct 8: A record number of Independent candidates were in the fray in the Assembly elections in the Kashmir region, but their presence failed to significantly affect the overall results. Out of the large pool of Independents, only two candidates managed to win.
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The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which fielded candidates in 19 Assembly constituencies in Kashmir, failed to make a significant impact. The only competitive race for the BJP was in the Gurez Assembly segment, where the party had hoped to open its account in Kashmir. However, the National Conference’s Nazir Ahmad Gurezi won the seat with a margin of 1,132 votes, defeating the BJP’s candidate Faqir Mohammad.
Other major political parties, including Ghulam Nabi Azad’s Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP), Altaf Bukhari’s Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party (JKAP), and the lesser-known Jammu and Kashmir United Front and Jammu and Kashmir Nationalist People’s Front, which were formed after the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A, also failed to win any seat in the Valley. These elections were the first in 10 years and the first since the removal of Articles 370 and 35A.
These elections featured the second-highest number of Independent candidates, surpassed only by the 2008 elections, which saw 465 Independents. In these elections, about 40% of the total 873 candidates were Independents, with an average of five Independent candidates contesting in each of the 47 Assembly segments in Kashmir. This record number of Independents led Kashmir-based political parties, such as the National Conference (NC) and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), to allege that the Independent candidates were proxies for the BJP.
The Sopore Assembly segment-once a militancy stronghold and the epicenter of election boycott campaigns-had the highest number of candidates, with 22 aspirants, 14 of whom were Independents. Among the Independents in Sopore was Ajaz Guru, the brother of Afzal Guru, who was executed for the 2001 Parliament attack. Ajaz Guru lost the election to the National Conference’s Irshad Rasool Kar by a massive margin of 26,846 votes, securing only 129 votes.
In Sonawari Assembly segment of Bandipora district, which saw 20 candidates in the race, including 11 Independents, the National Conference’s Hilal Akbar Lone comfortably won the seat, defeating Independent candidate Yasir Reshi by a margin of 13,744 votes.
In Ganderbal constituency, National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah, won by defeating the People’s Democratic Party’s (PDP) Bashir Ahmad Mir. Out of 15 candidates in Ganderbal, seven were Independents, including jailed separatist leader Sarjan Ahmad Wagay, also known as Barkati, who hails from South Kashmir’s Shopian district. Barkati managed to secure only 438 votes.
Engineer Rashid, Member of Parliament from North Kashmir who had led in nearly 15 Assembly segments during the last Lok Sabha elections, failed to capitalize on that support. His party only managed to win the Langate Assembly seat, where his brother, Khursheed Ahmad Sheikh, was the candidate. Khursheed defeated People’s Conference candidate Irfan Sultan Pandithpuri by a margin of 1,602 votes, securing 25,984 votes.
Another Independent candidate who secured a win was former National Conference leader Shabir Ahmad Kullay, who won the Shopian seat by defeating the National Conference’s Sheikh Mohammad Rafi with a margin of 1,207 votes. Kullay received 14,113 votes, while Rafi secured 12,906 votes.
In the closely watched Kulgam constituency, veteran CPI(M) leader Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami won his fifth consecutive election by defeating Jamaat-e-Islami-backed candidate Sayar Ahmad Reshi by a margin of 7,838 votes, the highest margin he has achieved in his three-decade career. Tarigami secured 33,634 votes.
People’s Conference president Sajjad Gani Lone, who contested from two constituencies-Kupwara and Handwara-won the Handwara seat but lost the Kupwara seat to PDP candidate Mir Mohammad Fayaz by a margin of 20,316 votes. Lone received only 7,457 votes in Kupwara compared to Fayaz’s 27,773 votes. In Handwara, Lone narrowly defeated the National Conference’s Chowdhury Mohammad Ramzan by 662 votes, securing 29,812 votes to Ramzan’s 29,150.
The election results brought disappointment for some high-profile candidates. Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party president Syed Altaf Bukhari lost the Chanpora seat to the National Conference’s Mushtaq Ahmad Guroo by 5,688 votes. Guroo secured 13,717 votes, while Bukhari received 8,029.
Similarly, Jammu and Kashmir People’s Democratic Front (Secular) president Hakeem Yaseen, who had won the Khansahib seat in the last three elections, lost to the National Conference’s Saifuddin Bhat by 11,614 votes. Saifuddin secured 33,225 votes, while Hakeem received 21,611. Yaseen also contested the Char-i-Sharief seat, where he lost to the National Conference’s Abdul Rahim Rather by a margin of 31,556 votes. Hakeem secured only 4,401 votes against Rather’s 35,957.
Former Jammu and Kashmir Minister Taj Mohiuddin, who left Ghulam Nabi Azad’s DPAP and contested the Uri Assembly seat as an Independent candidate, lost to the NC’s Sajjad Shafi by a margin of 14,469 votes. Mohiuddin secured 25,244 votes, while Shafi garnered 39,713 votes.
Former Deputy Chief Minister Muzaffar Hussain Baig, who contested as an Independent from Baramulla, also lost. He was defeated by the National Conference’s Javid Hassan Baig by a margin of 16,651 votes, securing only 5,872 votes himself.
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