Jammu-Kashmir | Omar Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti bite dust as NC, BJP bag 2 seats each

The BJP and the National Conference emerged victorious on two seats each in Jammu and Kashmir in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections even as the region also sprang a surprise by sending two Independents to the Parliament – one from Baramulla and the other from Ladakh Lok Sabha seat.

Among the major upsets, two heavyweights – PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah – were defeated in Baramulla and Anantnag-Rajouri constituencies, respectively. Interestingly, both the leaders are the former chief ministers of Jammu and Kashmir.

The BJP, which chose not to field its candidate in Kashmir valley, maintained its winning streak in Jammu for the third consecutive term, while the National Conference managed to secure only two seats (Srinagar and Anantnag) in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The party had bagged three seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Setback for NC

The Farooq Abdullah-led National Conference, part of the INDIA bloc, fielded candidates in three seats in the valley and secured victory in two. The biggest setback for the party came from Baramulla from where Omar Abdullah was defeated by jailed leader and two-time MLA Er Rashid, who contested as an independent candidate, by a margin of over 2 lakh votes.

Rashid’s son and brother spearheaded the campaign in the constituency, addressing rallies that drew massive crowds in this North Kashmir constituency. The NIA arrested Rashid in 2019 in an alleged terror-funding case and has been lodged in Tihar Jail since then. Baramulla was among the closely watched seats, where separatist-turned-politician and People Conference president Sajad Lone was also in the race.

PDP draws blank

Interestingly, though the PDP was part of the INDIA bloc, it didn’t win any seats. Mehbooba Mufti was keen on contesting from the Anantnag-Rajouri seat, but Omar Abdullah did not leave the seat and fielded tribal leader Mian Altaf who defeated Mufti by a huge margin of 2,81,794 votes.

The PDP fielded candidates in all three seats in the valley and backed Congress candidates in the Jammu region after the National Conference declined to collaborate with it.

BJP retains Jammu seats

BJP candidates Jugal Kishore Sharma and Union Minister Jitendra Singh retained their seats for the third consecutive term. Jitendra Singh won Udhampur seat by defeating Lal Singh of the Congress. Jugal Kishore defeated Raman Bhalla of the Congress in Jammu seat.

Meanwhile, the lone Lok Sabha seat in Ladakh went to independent candidate Mohammed Hanifa Jan who won by a margin of over 27,000 votes. He was pitted against Congress’ Tsering Namgyal and BJP’s Tashi Gyalson. The BJP won Ladakh seat in both 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections when the region was a part of the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

This was the first election of Jammu and Kashmir as a UT after the Article 370 was abrogated and its special status was revoked, dividing it into two Union Territories (Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh) under the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019.