The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday retained all the three seats won by it in the 2014 election in Jammu and Kashmir, while the National Conference swept all the three seats represented by the Peoples Democratic Party in the Kashmir Valley.
In Udhampur, Union Minister and BJP candidate Jitendra Singh registered a landslide victory over National Conference-Congress joint candidate Vikramaditya Singh.
Dr. Jitendra Singh bagged 7.1 lakh votes compared to Mr. Vikramaditya Singh’s 3.65 lakh.
“Such a huge mandate comes with a responsibility to deliver better in the coming five years,” said Dr. Jitendra Singh, after winning the seat.
Winning a second term, BJP’s Jugal Kishore Sharma, with 8.3 lakh votes, defeated NC-Congress candidate Raman Bhalla, who got 5.46 lakh votes.
Compared to the wafer thin victory margin of 36 votes in the 2014 Lok Sabha poll, BJP’s Ladakh candidate, Jamyang Tsering Namgyal, got 38,338 votes against the 29,004 of Independent candidate Sajjad Hussain.
Farooq wins again
NC patron and three-time Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah won the Srinagar seat with a margin of 70,000 votes. “This is the beginning of the struggle in Kashmir. We have to work hard for the coming Assembly polls,” said Dr. Abdullah.
Mehbooba loses
Former Chief Minister and and PDP president Mehbooba Mufti was defeated by NC’s Hasnain Masoodi, who bagged 40,032 votes in the militancy-affected constituency of Anantnag. Ms. Mufti emerged number three, as Congress candidate G.A. Mir bagged 32,879 votes and the former Chief Minister got 30,223 votes.
“I have been fortunate to get the love and affection of my people. They have every right to express their anger at my failings. Accept their verdict with humility. Congratulations to the winning candidates from NC,” said Ms. Mufti.
