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The Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) is poised to form the first elected government in Jammu and Kashmir, having secured a victory in the assembly elections by securing 49 out of 90 seats on which polls were held for the first time since the abrogation of Article 370 five years ago.
The National Conference (NC), the oldest regional party in J-K, emerged as the clear frontrunner, winning 42 seats and falling just six seats short of a majority of its own.
Meanwhile, the Communist Party of India-Marxist managed to secure the single seat allotted to it under the seat-sharing agreement, while the Congress party won six seats, with five of those in the Kashmir valley.
The elections in J-K virtually turned a nightmare for the Congress as it won only one seat in the Jammu region.
The Bharatiya Janata Party also made notable gains, winning 29 seats -- its best performance in J-K to date, up from 25 seats in the 2014 elections.
Despite the defeat of J-K BJP president Ravindra Raina, the party's vote share increased from 23 per cent in 2014 to 25.64 per cent this year.
However, political analysts do not read much into the increased tally of the BJP and mainly attribute it to the recent delimitation of assembly seats in which many strongholds of the BJP were bifurcated into two like Kishtwar and Nagrota and others in Jammu district.
The NC saw a rise in its vote share as well, improving from 20.77 per cent in 2014 to 23.43 per cent this election cycle.
In contrast, the People's Democratic Party experienced significant losses, winning only three seats compared to 28 in 2014 and witnessing its vote share drop from 22.67 per cent to just 8.87 per cent.
The Congress also faced a decline, securing only six seats -- down from 12 seats a decade ago -- with a corresponding drop in vote share from 18 per cent to approximately 12 per cent.
There are only three women winners -- Sakina Masood, Shamima Firdous (both NC) and Shagun Parihar (BJP) -- among the 90 successful candidates.
Two NC veterans -- Abdul Rahim Rather (Chrar-e-Sharief) and Ali Mohammad Sagar (Khanyar) -- have won for the seventh term as MLA in J-K.
Among the other key winners were NC vice president Omar Abdullah, J-K Congress president Tariq Hamid Karra, PDP youth president Waheed Para and BJP leader Devender Rana.
The key losers include former deputy chief minister Muzaffar Hussain Baig (Independent), Congress leader Tara Chand, PCC working president Raman Bhalla, former PCC president Vaqar Rsool Wani and NC provincial president Nasir Aslam Wani.
Omar Abdullah, a likely candidate for the chief minister's position after winning in both Budgam and Ganderbal, expressed gratitude to the electorate for their support.
"We are committed to serving the people and addressing their concerns in this new mandate," he stated.
Abdullah said many attempts were made to destroy his party over the last five years by creating new outfits which have been decimated in this election.
"There were attempts to destroy the NC over the last five years. So many parties were created here, whose only aim was to destroy the NC. But, God's grace has been on us and those who tried to destroy us, have been decimated in the process," Abdullah told reporters here after receiving his winning certificate from the returning officer for the Budgam seat.
He said the verdict has increased the party's responsibilities.
PDP president Mehbooba Mufti, while congratulating the NC-Congress alliance for the victory, said the Centre should take a lesson from the decisive verdict of the Jammu and Kashmir assembly polls and 'not meddle' in the affairs of the upcoming NC-Congress government.
She said her party would play the role of a constructive opposition.
"I congratulate the NC leadership for its spectacular win. I also want to congratulate the people of J&K for voting for a stable government and not a hung assembly because the people faced several problems especially after August 5, 2019. A stable and strong government is very important for the redressal of those problems," Mufti told reporters in Srinagar.
CP-M candidate Mohamad Yousuf Tarigami won the assembly election from the Kulgam seat in for the fifth consecutive time, defeating former member of banned Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) Sayar Ahmad Reshi by more than 7,800 votes.
Tarigami said the trends showed that the vote of the people is against the central government and its policies.
"The writing is on the wall and the vote of the people is against the BJP government and its policies," Tarigami told PTI Videos.
The counting of votes began at 8 am at 28 counting centres for the 90 seats of Jammu and Kashmir assembly which went to polls in three phases.