J&K DDC election results: Gupkar Alliance heads for a victory; BJP likely single largest party, bags 3 seats in Kashmir division for the first time

Former Chief Ministers of Jammu and Kashmir, Mehbooba Mufti, Omar Abdullah, and Farooq Abdullah (File Photo).

The Farooq Abdullah-led People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) is set to win the first-ever District Development Council (DDC) polls in Jammu and Kashmir, the counting of which was underway late on December 22. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is likely to emerge as the single-largest party as the final numbers were awaited.

The PAGD, an alliance of seven regional parties, is set to win majority of the seats in the Kashmir division, while the BJP had an upper hand in the Jammu region, the wins and the leads out so far indicated.

The Jammu and Kashmir state election authority has so far announced the results for 236 of the 280 seats. The BJP has won 64 of them, the NC 54, independents 39, the PDP 25, and the Congress 20 seats, among others. The Centre-backed JK Apni Party has won 10 seats so far.

The election was seen as a fight between the BJP and other political parties in Jammu and Kashmir.

The mainstream political parties in the union territory, including the Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the National Conference (NC), the Jammu and Kashmir People's Conference (PC), and the Awami National Conference (ANC) contested the polls as part of the alliance making it a tough fight for the BJP.

For the saffron party, the DDC election was a litmus test, and a referendum on scrapping of Article 370 last year. The party has not been in power in the state, except for a term when it had an alliance with Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s PDP in 2015. In June 2018, the BJP pulled out of its coalition government with the PDP.

The results, analysts said, also exhibited the relevance of the mainstream regional parties in the PAGD - a united front against the BJP to collectively fight for the restoration of Article 370.

READ: Explained | All you need to know about the first-ever DDC polls in Jammu and Kashmir

In the leads available for 277 of the 280 seats, the PAGD  was leading on at least 112 seats, the BJP  on 74 seats, the Congress on 26 seats, the JK Apni Party on thirteen seats. The independents had won or were leading on at least 52 seats.

The BJP won three seats in Kashmir division, including one in the summer capital Srinagar. The three wins are the BJP's first victory in an election from any seat in Kashmir division while facing regional heavyweights like the NC and the PDP.

Overall, in the 20 districts in J&K, while the PAGD and the Congress were set to bag at least 12 district councils, the BJP was winning six districts of Jammu division, according to reports.

Two districts, including Srinagar where independents won half of the seats, were still up for the grab, according to reports.

In ten districts of Jammu, the BJP is ahead in more than 70 of the 140 seats while the Gupkar alliance is winning more than 35. In Kashmir's ten districts, the regional alliance was leading on more than 75 seats with the BJP, managing to win three seats.

The PAGD alliance claimed that they had the support of people and the results were a referendum against the revocation of Article 370. The BJP, which may finish as the single-largest party, was jubilant over its performance in Jammu division and winning three seats in Kashmir.

The trends that have emerged in the DDC polls in J&K are very encouraging for the @JKPAGD. The BJP had made this election a prestige issue about Art 370 & J&K’s special status. The people have now spoken & it’s for those who believe in democracy to pay heed to these voices.

— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) December 22, 2020

The eight-phase polls for the 280 constituencies in 20 districts (10 each in Jammu and Kashmir) assumed significance as it was the first electoral exercise carried out in Jammu and Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370 in August last year.

The Congress which had among the initial signatories of the Gupkar Declaration contested separately.

BJP's emergence as the single largest party in the recently held District Development Council polls is a big endorsement for the abrogation of Art 370! Not a single party in the PAGD, a group of 7 parties, including the NC and PDP, even come close.

Politics of development wins.

— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) December 22, 2020

While most of the leaders of the parties in Gupkar Alliance stayed away from the campaign, the BJP drafted its top leaders including Union ministers Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Anurag Thakur, Jitendra Singh, Smriti Irani, and Krishan Pal Gujrar campaigning for the party’s candidates.

The UT administration said the polls are aimed at reviving the Panchayati Raj system in Jammu and Kashmir. On October 17, the Centre had amended the Jammu and Kashmir Panchayati Raj Act, 1989, to facilitate the setting up of these councils. The UT administration also amended the J&K Panchayati Raj Rules, 1996, to pave way for the establishment of the elected DDCs.

Among the 2,178 candidates, including 450 women, in the fray, the BJP had fielded 183 candidates, highest in the contest by a single party. The NC, PDP, PC, CPIM, and the JKPM who fought together in the alliance fielded over 220 candidates. The Congress, had fielded 118 candidates in the contest.

In the PAGD, the NC had fielded 132 candidates, while the PDP fielded 63 candidates. People’s Conference had 11 candidates in the fray, while the CPIM had seven candidates in the fray.

The newly formed J&K Apni Party had fielded 134 candidates. There were over 1,000 independents contesting for a place in the DDCs.