Election2024: BJP Dominates Jammu, NC Holds Ground in Kashmir
Lok Sabha election results: BJP candidates Jugal Kishore Sharma and Jitendra Singh, MoS PMO, retained their seats for a third consecutive term in Jammu
The Bharatiya Janata Party maintained its winning streak in Jammu for the third consecutive term, while the National Conference, which had won three seats in the previous election, managed to secure only two seats (Srinagar and Ananatnag) in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Of the five Lok Sabha seats in the union territory, BJP candidates Jugal Kishore Sharma and Jitendra Singh, MoS PMO, retained their seats for a third consecutive term. However, the party stayed away from announcing candidates in Kashmir.
The Farooq Abdullah-led National Conference, part of the INDIA bloc, fielded candidates in three seats in the Valley and emerged victorious in two.
This was the first major election in the region after abrogation of Article 370, which granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir.
Omar Abdullah, who ran from North Kashmir’s Baramulla seat, was defeated by jailed leader and two-time MLA Er Rashid, who contested as an independent candidate.
With Rashid in jail, his sons Abrar, 23, and brother Asrar, 21, spearheaded the campaign in the constituency, addressing rallies that drew massive crowds in the bordering region.
Er Rashid was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) 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.
According to the Election Commission of India data, Rashid was winning the seat with a margin of over two lakh votes. The Mehbooba Mufti-led Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) also fielded its former Rajya Sabha MP in the seat, but he did not emerge as a main challenger.
Though the PDP did not win any seats, it was part of the INDIA bloc. Mehbooba Mufti wanted to contest from the Anantnag-Rajouri seat, but Omar Abdullah did not leave the seat and fielded tribal leader Mian Altaf, who won.
Following the National Conference’s refusal to collaborate, the PDP fielded candidates in all three seats in the Valley and backed Congress candidates in the Jammu region.
The lone Lok Sabha seat in Ladakh went to independent candidate Haji Hanifa, a Kargil resident who won with a margin of over 27,000 votes. In Ladakh, the BJP had replaced its incumbent MP Jamyang Tsering Namgyal with Tashi Gyalson.
