On Tuesday, jubilant Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) workers celebrated in Srinagar after trends showed that the Congress-National Conference pre-poll alliance had crossed the majority mark in Jammu & Kashmir.
JKNC has secured 28 seats and is leading in 13, while Congress has won three seats and is leading in three more, according to the latest ECI figures. The BJP has claimed 17 seats and is ahead in 12 constituencies. Mehbooba Mufti’s Jammu and Kashmir People’s Democratic Party (JKPDP) has won two seats and is leading in two others.
National Conference (NC) vice president Omar Abdullah won the Budgam assembly seat, defeating PDP’s Aga Syed Muntazir Mehdi by more than 18,000 votes. He also won Ganderbal by over 10,000 votes. In 2014, Abdullah contested two seats – Sonwar in Srinagar and Beerwah in Budgam – and won Beerwah.
However, in the 2024 Parliamentary elections, he lost the Baramulla Lok Sabha seat to independent candidate Sheikh Abdul Rashid, who was at the time in Tihar Jail on terror-funding charges. Rashid is now out on bail. Omar Abdullah said the alliance is in a strong position to win and urged the BJP to avoid any dirty tricks. His father, NC president Farooq Abdullah, announced that Omar would be the next chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir as the NC-Congress alliance is poised to form the government.
Farooq Abdullah also said that the results prove the people of Jammu and Kashmir oppose the abrogation of Article 370. PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti congratulated NC on their victory, saying the Centre should learn from the decisive verdict and allow the government to function smoothly. Her daughter, Iltija Mehbooba Mufti, is trailing in the Bijbehara constituency with 17,127 votes, 5,067 votes behind the leader. Despite her campaign efforts, Iltija accepted defeat, expressing gratitude for the support she received from the people.
Bashir Ahmad Shah Veeri of the Jammu & Kashmir National Conference has taken the lead in Bijbehara with 22,194 votes, maintaining a comfortable margin of 5,067 votes. Meanwhile, People’s Conference president Sajad Lone, who is contesting from two seats, is leading by over 700 votes in Handwara but trailing in the Kupwara constituency, according to Election Commission data for Jammu and Kashmir.
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