Poll results prove downer for dynasty politics

A cursory look at the candidates reveals that many political leaders across the political divide had fielded their kin for the elections. But only a fraction of them were accepted by the people.
Salman Anees Soz, son of JKPCC chief Prof Saifudin Soz, who contested first time from Baramulla assembly segment, lost the seat to Javaid Beigh, Peoples Democratic Candidate (PDP).
Salman Anees Soz lost the seat with huge margin as he could get only 6805 votes against 14418 votes secured by winner Javaid Beigh – the kin of senior PDP leader and former deputy Chief Minister, Muzaffar Hussain Beigh.
In a major embarrassment for BJP, Nand Kishore, brother of party’s state president and Member of Parliament, Jugal Kishore, lost Nagrota seat to National Conference’s Devender Singh Rana.
The party never expected this defeat as the constituency was represented by Jugal Kishore twice since 2002.  Nand accepted the baton from his brother as Jugal was elected as MP in last parliamentary polls.
Nand Kishore maintained second slot in the competition with 19630 votes while winning candidate Devender Rana bagged 23678 votes.
Two sons of former deputy Chief Minister and veteran Congress leader Mangat Ram Sharma disappointed their political family by losing the elections. The elder son, Subhash Sharma, faced defeat on Peoples Democratic Party mandate from Kathua assembly segment and younger one Rajneesh failed on Congress mandate from Bani, represented by his father thrice.
Subhash Sharma finished at fourth number in Kathua with only 1305 votes, against 35670 votes bagged by the winning candidate, Rajiv Jasrotia of BJP.
Rajneesh from Bani ended up at 5th slot in the list with 1379 votes. The winning candidate, Jewan Lal of Bharatiya Janata Party, got 12841 votes.
Vikram Malotra, son of senior Congress leader and Chairman of Legislative Council, Amrit Malhotra, faced defeat from Jammu East on Congress ticket, even as he finished at second slot in the list with 9082 votes. The victorious BJP candidate Rajesh Gupta got 21776 votes.
Dr Hina Bhat, who was projected by BJP as its face in Kashmir, contested from Amira Kadal. She is the daughter of Muhammad Shafi Bhat, one-time National Conference (NC) legislator and later a Congress leader. She maintained third slot in the list with 1359 votes while winning candidate Syed Muhammad Altaf Bukhari of Peoples Democratic Party secured 11726 votes.
NC candidate from Duroo, Farooq Ahmed Ganai, son of former minister Muhammad Akbar Ganai, maintained 3rd slot in the list with 8251 votes against 18150 votes by the winning candidate, Syed Farooq Ahmad Andrabi of PDP.
Aziz Munshi, son of former minister Munshi Habibullah, a BJP candidate from Kargil;  Nazeer Ahmad Khan son of former minister Sarfraz Khan, Congress candidate from Beerwah; Manzoor Ahmad Zargar son of former PDP Minister Aziz Zargar contested from Noorabad constituency, but all of them failed to gain acceptability.
However, some kin of political leaders could continue family legacy by winning their seats.
The third generation of Abdullah family managed to take the legacy forward as the Sheikh scion Omar Abdullah won with a thin margin from Beerwah seat, but lost from Sonwar.
Yawar Ahmed Mir son of senior Peoples Democratic Party leader Muhammad Dilawar Mir won Rafiabaad seat. He was contesting elections for the first time.
Javaid Beigh, nephew of Member of Parliament Muzaffar Hessian Beigh contested first time from Barmulla Assembly segment and won the elections.
Akram Choudhary, son of former minister and Congress Legislative Party leader Muhammad Aslam Choudhary won the seat for the family bastion Surankote.
Sheikh Ishfaq Jabbar, son of former minister Sheikh Jabbar, a close associate of National Conference founder Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah, contested on NC ticket from Ganderbal and wrested the seat.
Ishfaq had initially joined Congress, but this time contested on National Conference ticket and replaced Omar Abdullah from NC bastion Ganderbal.