Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Elections: NC-INC Alliance Wins 48 Seats, Limited Hindu Representation
Srinagar, 9th October 2024: In the recent Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections, the alliance of the National Conference (NC) and the Indian National Congress (INC) secured a total of 48 seats. However, only two Hindu candidates from the bloc, which also included several Sikh community members, emerged victorious out of the 30 candidates they fielded.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) claimed victory in 29 seats, electing 28 Hindu candidates and one Sikh, while none of their Muslim candidates, including two former ministers, managed to win.
Among the noteworthy results, National Conference candidate Surinder Choudhary defeated BJP state chief Ravinder Raina in the Nowshera constituency of Rajouri district by a margin of 7,819 votes. Choudhary, a former Member of the Legislative Council (MLC), received 35,069 votes, while Raina garnered 27,250 votes. In the previous assembly elections in 2014, Raina had defeated Choudhary, who was then running for the PDP, by a margin of over 10,000 votes.
Choudhary had initially joined the BJP in 2022 after resigning from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) but returned to the National Conference in July of the previous year after leaving the BJP.
Another Hindu candidate, Arjun Singh Raju, won on a National Conference ticket in the Ramban assembly constituency. He secured 28,425 votes, defeating BJP rebel candidate Suraj Singh Parihar, who received 19,412 votes, resulting in a winning margin of 9,013 votes. Rakesh Singh Thakur from the BJP finished third with 17,511 votes.
The National Conference had fielded nine Hindu candidates, including one woman, but only two were successful. Meanwhile, the Congress party nominated 19 Hindu and two Sikh candidates, primarily in Jammu, but none won, with most finishing as runners-up.
Additionally, none of the 25 Muslim candidates fielded by the BJP, including two former ministers, were successful, with many losing their security deposits, particularly in the Kashmir valley. Overall, the BJP fielded 62 candidates but achieved victory with only 28 Hindus and one Sikh candidate in the Jammu region.
