J&K Lok Sabha Election Results 2019: In Kashmir Mehbooba Mufti’s PDP Could Face a Rout; BJP Mounts Challenge in Jammu
Lok Sabha elections in Kashmir were held in the backdrop of sporadic incidents of violence, crackdown on the militants by security forces and political instability in the state.
The two key contestants in the state are Farooq Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti (Illustration by: Sheikh Saliq)
Jammu and Kashmir Lok Sabha Election Results 2019: The state of Jammu and Kashmir sends just six members to Parliament. Yet, the Kashmir situation dominated the national discourse during the Lok Sabha election 2019, setting the agenda for various political parties including the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress. The state that went to polls in five phases from April 11 to May 5 is currently under the President’s rule after the Election Commision postponed the state Assembly election citing security concerns.
The most keenly watched contest in the state includes two former chief minister of the State, Mehbooba Mufti and Farooq Abdullah. Mufti is contesting from Anantnag Lok Sabha seat, which witnessed the lowest voter turnout of 8.8 % in the state. Here, Mufti will be competing against Sofi Yousuf of the BJP, Ghulam Ahmad Mir of the Congress and Hasnain Masoodi of the National Conference (NC).
On the other hand, Abdullah is fighting from his bastion Srinagar where he is part of a three-way contest which includes Sheikh Khalid Jehangir of the BJP, and PDP’s Aga Syed Mohsin.
The voting percentage in Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency stood at 14.08 % with Congress fielding no candidate because of its alliance with the NC. However, the low voter turnout is expected to favour the loyal vote base of Abdullah.
Going by the predictions of most of the the exit polls, of the six Lok Sabha seats in Jammu and Kashmir, the BJP is predicted to win two seats in Jammu, the Congress one in Ladakh and the National Conference (NC) all the three seats of the Valley. Most exit polls have also predicted that the PDP could be heading for a rout in the state.
Here are the top ten developments from the state:
1) With Farooq Abdullah contesting from Srinagar this time around as well, the controversy over the special constitutional position of Jammu and Kashmir has become the central issue in this election, after the BJP announced that it would scrap Articles 370 and 35A. In Srinagar constituency, elections were low key this time mainly because Abdullah was contesting from here with no strong candidate in opposition and the killings in the bypolls of 2017 still weigh heavy on the electorate, resulting in a mere 14 % voter turnout. The constituency of Srinagar in itself has a history of poor turnouts—with just 25.55% in 2009 and 25.86% in 2014. The constituency had witnessed a voter turnout of 11.93 per cent in 1999, the fifth lowest poll percentage in the country’s electoral history.
2) The real challenge during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections was the restive south Kashmir, where the cumulative voter turnout in the three phases remained at a paltry 8.8 %. Despite the huge deployment of forces personnel, the mood on the ground was indifferent to the polls. The numbers suggest that even all the basic workers of the parties didn’t turn up for voting.
3) Most of the exit polls have also predicted that the PDP headed by Mehbooba Mufti is likely to lose from all three seats of Kashmir. Mehbooba is contesting from South Kashmir’s Anantnag constituency which has remained in news because of the violence in last five years.
4) Interestingly, the NC and the PDP didn’t contest from Jammu fearing it would divide the secular vote and benefit the BJP. With exit polls showing the BJP winning both the Jammu seat, it looks like the strategy to consolidate the secular vote hasn’t worked in the region. In Jammu province, the sitting MP Jitendra Singh of the BJP is in a direct fight against Congress’ Vikramaditya Singh in the Udhampur, a Lok Sabha seat which was earlier held by Ghulam Nabi Azad of the Congress. The other parliamentary constituency in the region is Jammu where the sitting BJP MP Jugal Kishore Sharma is in a close fight with the Congressman Raman Bhalla. Jammu Lok Sabha seat also witnessed the maximum voter turnout of 72.49% in the state.
5) This was the also first general election that was held in what has come to be known as the post-Burhan Wani phase, which also delayed the by polls for the south Kashmir constituency. The Pulwama terror attack that took place two months before polling on February 14 further worsened the situation in the valley.
6) On the three seats of the Valley, elections were held in five phases. The Anantnag constituency, which consists of four south Kashmir districts—Kulgam, Pulwama, Shopian and Anantnag—voted in three phases, a first in the electoral history of the country owing to security concerns.
7) Baramulla Lok Sabha constituency consists of three districts of north Kashmir—Kupwara, Baramulla and Bandipora. The voter turnout here was 34%, a 3% decrease than the last election. Baramulla will see a tough fight between BJP’s M M War, Congress’ Haji Farooq Mir, PDP’s Abdul Qayoom Wani and NC’s Mohammad Akbar Lone.
8) The main competition in the north is between the NC and the People’s Conference, which is led by separatist-turned-politician, Sajad Lone, who was an ally of BJP in the last state government headed by PDP’s Mehbooba Mufti.
9) The fight in the two Lok Sabha seats of the Jammu province—Udhampur and Jammu—is mainly between the BJP and the Congress. To counter the BJP, NC and PDP supported Congress in Jammu. An interesting twist in the Jammu elections was added by Lal Singh, a BJP leader and a minister in the last PDP-BJP government. Singh resigned after he and another minister stirred controversy by addressing a rally in support of the Kathua rape suspects.
10) World apart from the politics of Kashmir and Jammu, Ladakh, which recently was given a separate division status, is the largest Lok Sabha constituency in India in terms of area at 1,73,000 sq km. Here the PDP and NC are supporting Sajad Kargili, an Independent candidate who also has the support of Buddhist and Muslim organisations. In 2014, the Ladakh seat was won by the BJP but later the MP resigned from the parliament, kater quitting the party as well.
(Get detailed and live results of each and every seat in the Lok Sabha elections and state Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim to know which candidate/party is leading or trailing and to know who has won and who has lost and by what margin. Our one-of-its-kind Election Analytics Centre lets you don a psephologist’s hat and turn into an election expert. Know interesting facts and trivia about the elections and see our informative graphics. Elections = News18)
The most keenly watched contest in the state includes two former chief minister of the State, Mehbooba Mufti and Farooq Abdullah. Mufti is contesting from Anantnag Lok Sabha seat, which witnessed the lowest voter turnout of 8.8 % in the state. Here, Mufti will be competing against Sofi Yousuf of the BJP, Ghulam Ahmad Mir of the Congress and Hasnain Masoodi of the National Conference (NC).
On the other hand, Abdullah is fighting from his bastion Srinagar where he is part of a three-way contest which includes Sheikh Khalid Jehangir of the BJP, and PDP’s Aga Syed Mohsin.
The voting percentage in Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency stood at 14.08 % with Congress fielding no candidate because of its alliance with the NC. However, the low voter turnout is expected to favour the loyal vote base of Abdullah.
Going by the predictions of most of the the exit polls, of the six Lok Sabha seats in Jammu and Kashmir, the BJP is predicted to win two seats in Jammu, the Congress one in Ladakh and the National Conference (NC) all the three seats of the Valley. Most exit polls have also predicted that the PDP could be heading for a rout in the state.
Here are the top ten developments from the state:
1) With Farooq Abdullah contesting from Srinagar this time around as well, the controversy over the special constitutional position of Jammu and Kashmir has become the central issue in this election, after the BJP announced that it would scrap Articles 370 and 35A. In Srinagar constituency, elections were low key this time mainly because Abdullah was contesting from here with no strong candidate in opposition and the killings in the bypolls of 2017 still weigh heavy on the electorate, resulting in a mere 14 % voter turnout. The constituency of Srinagar in itself has a history of poor turnouts—with just 25.55% in 2009 and 25.86% in 2014. The constituency had witnessed a voter turnout of 11.93 per cent in 1999, the fifth lowest poll percentage in the country’s electoral history.
2) The real challenge during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections was the restive south Kashmir, where the cumulative voter turnout in the three phases remained at a paltry 8.8 %. Despite the huge deployment of forces personnel, the mood on the ground was indifferent to the polls. The numbers suggest that even all the basic workers of the parties didn’t turn up for voting.
3) Most of the exit polls have also predicted that the PDP headed by Mehbooba Mufti is likely to lose from all three seats of Kashmir. Mehbooba is contesting from South Kashmir’s Anantnag constituency which has remained in news because of the violence in last five years.
4) Interestingly, the NC and the PDP didn’t contest from Jammu fearing it would divide the secular vote and benefit the BJP. With exit polls showing the BJP winning both the Jammu seat, it looks like the strategy to consolidate the secular vote hasn’t worked in the region. In Jammu province, the sitting MP Jitendra Singh of the BJP is in a direct fight against Congress’ Vikramaditya Singh in the Udhampur, a Lok Sabha seat which was earlier held by Ghulam Nabi Azad of the Congress. The other parliamentary constituency in the region is Jammu where the sitting BJP MP Jugal Kishore Sharma is in a close fight with the Congressman Raman Bhalla. Jammu Lok Sabha seat also witnessed the maximum voter turnout of 72.49% in the state.
5) This was the also first general election that was held in what has come to be known as the post-Burhan Wani phase, which also delayed the by polls for the south Kashmir constituency. The Pulwama terror attack that took place two months before polling on February 14 further worsened the situation in the valley.
6) On the three seats of the Valley, elections were held in five phases. The Anantnag constituency, which consists of four south Kashmir districts—Kulgam, Pulwama, Shopian and Anantnag—voted in three phases, a first in the electoral history of the country owing to security concerns.
7) Baramulla Lok Sabha constituency consists of three districts of north Kashmir—Kupwara, Baramulla and Bandipora. The voter turnout here was 34%, a 3% decrease than the last election. Baramulla will see a tough fight between BJP’s M M War, Congress’ Haji Farooq Mir, PDP’s Abdul Qayoom Wani and NC’s Mohammad Akbar Lone.
8) The main competition in the north is between the NC and the People’s Conference, which is led by separatist-turned-politician, Sajad Lone, who was an ally of BJP in the last state government headed by PDP’s Mehbooba Mufti.
9) The fight in the two Lok Sabha seats of the Jammu province—Udhampur and Jammu—is mainly between the BJP and the Congress. To counter the BJP, NC and PDP supported Congress in Jammu. An interesting twist in the Jammu elections was added by Lal Singh, a BJP leader and a minister in the last PDP-BJP government. Singh resigned after he and another minister stirred controversy by addressing a rally in support of the Kathua rape suspects.
10) World apart from the politics of Kashmir and Jammu, Ladakh, which recently was given a separate division status, is the largest Lok Sabha constituency in India in terms of area at 1,73,000 sq km. Here the PDP and NC are supporting Sajad Kargili, an Independent candidate who also has the support of Buddhist and Muslim organisations. In 2014, the Ladakh seat was won by the BJP but later the MP resigned from the parliament, kater quitting the party as well.
(Get detailed and live results of each and every seat in the Lok Sabha elections and state Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim to know which candidate/party is leading or trailing and to know who has won and who has lost and by what margin. Our one-of-its-kind Election Analytics Centre lets you don a psephologist’s hat and turn into an election expert. Know interesting facts and trivia about the elections and see our informative graphics. Elections = News18)