News Mania / Piyal Chatterjee / 9th October 2024
Commencing at 8 am, the 90 assembly constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir will have their votes counted. This is the last phase of an electoral process that will yield an elected government six years after the PDP-BJP regime collapsed on June 20, 2018, and Article 370 was subsequently abrogated. 46 is the majority score.
After fighting to a commanding lead in the 2024 J&K Assembly poll—the first in the former state after Article 370 was repealed and the first since the 2014 election—the Congress-National Conference alliance is almost set to establish the next elected government of Jammu and Kashmir.At 3 pm – in what was predicted to be a tight contest – the Congress-NC was leading in 48 seats. The former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti’s People’s Democratic Party, which sided with the BJP in 2014 but broke up with it by 2018, was leading in four, while the BJP led in 29.
For nine seats, other contenders—including independents—were in the lead. Just six of the 39 seats that the Congress-NC alliance is running for are currently held by the former. As a result of this outcome, the national party will probably establish a minority administration.The largest push is from the NC, which fielded candidates for 56 seats and is already ahead in 41. For the state party, which only garnered 15 votes in the most recent J&K Assembly election, the numbers represent a significant improvement. The PDP, which garnered 28 seats in the 2014 election, is the major loser.The BJP and the Congress are expected to come close to matching their previous totals of 12 and 25.
As of right now, the BJP has 21 confirmed victories, the Congress has five, and the PDP has two. The AAP secured its maiden victory in the J&K Assembly when Mehraj Malik won the Doda seat. The seats of Shopian, Inderwal, Bani, and Surankote were won by independent candidates.It was anticipated that there would be strong competition for the 95 Assembly seats in the former state, five of which Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha had controversially nominated.
The Congress-NC combination was slightly ahead according to exit polls. A total of three suggests that the BJP will win 26 seats, the Congress-NC will win 43, and the PDP will win four to twelve.Hence, exit polls indicated that it would be a hung Assembly; J&K has 90 elected seats, with 46 in the majority.
Mehbooba Mufti, the president of the PDP, said on Tuesday that the Centre ought to take note of the resounding result of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections and “not meddle” in the future National Conference-Congress government’s business. She said that her party would be a constructive opposition and congratulated the National Conference leadership on their victory.
“I congratulate the NC leadership for its spectacular win. I also want to congratulate the people of J-K for voting for a stable government and not a hung assembly because the people faced several problems especially after August 5, 2019. A stable and strong government is very important for the redressal of those problems,” Mufti told reporters.
The PDP’s senior leader, Iltija Mufti, promptly referred to such conjecture as “unnecessary” after NC patriarch Farooq Abdullah responded “why not” to a question regarding the party’s potential alliance last night.
Farooq Abdullah’s son, Omar Abdullah, himself a former Chief Minister, was more reserved in his response, posting on X, They haven’t extended support… haven’t offered support… and we don’t know what the voters have decided yet. So I wish we could put a lid on all this premature speculation…” Earlier Farooq Abdullah told news agency ANI, “I extend my heartfelt gratitude (to the PDP)… we will try to build this state together”, when asked about news that Ms Mufti had offered her support.
However, the senior Mr Abdullah also clarified, “I have not spoken with her.. only read it in the paper.”
