Sanjeev Pargal/
Fayaz Bukhari
JAMMU/SRINAGAR, Dec 6: National Conference-Congress coalition today registered impressive victory on all four seats of Legislative Council from Panchayat quota, the elections for which were held on December 3 and counting taken up today. The major opposition party, PDP, did put up a strong fight on both seats of Kashmir division despite trailing in its South Kashmir bastion but the Jammu based opposition party-the BJP miserably failed to give any fight to the coalition candidates in Jammu division, where NC-Congress candidates won with a handsome margin.
The BJP, which had won 11 seats in Jammu region in 2008 Assembly elections but was relegated to four MLAs after the expulsion of seven legislators from the party, slipped to fourth place in Jammu-I constituency behind the PDP and the NPP and third place in Jammu-2 seat behind the PDP. The BJP, which had won Nagrota Assembly constituency for second time in 2009, lost the ground to National Conference where Chief Minister’s Political Advisor Devender Singh Rana led the Alliance to comfortable victory over the opposition party.
The National Panthers Party led in all three Assembly segments of Ramnagar, Udhampur and Samba, presently held by it. However, it too couldn’t muster much support in remaining parts of Jammu division.
The winners included Dr Shehnaz Ganai (National Conference and Dr Sham Lal Bhagat) from the two seats of Jammu division and Ali Mohammad Dar (NC) and Ghulam Nabi Monga (Congress) from Kashmir division.
The victory margin of NC and Congress candidates showed that there was one-sided contest in both J-1 and J-2 constituencies due to impressive campaigning and mobilization of Panchayat members by the Alliance leaders while the Opposition not only remained a divided house but also campaigned in few areas. A number of top BJP leaders either didn’t campaign or held few rallies to complete formality to ensure victory of the coalition candidates, political observers said.
In Kashmir, the PDP suffered reverses even in its South Kashmir bastion though it put up a strong fight in both the seats of Kashmir division, unlike in Jammu where the Opposition surrendered both the seats meekly.
The coalition candidates took lead in all districts of the Kashmir Valley and Ladakh region, comprising Kashmir division, excepting three districts.
A massive turnout of 96 per cent was recorded in the polling on December 3. It was for the first time after 1974 that elections to four seats of Legislative Council from Panchayat quota were held in the State. The Electoral College comprised 33,540 Sarpanchs and Panchs across the State.
In Jammu division, the impressive show put up by the National Conference-Congress Alliance could be well gauged from the fact that their competitors were nowhere near to the winners.
NC and Congress candidates Dr Shehnaz Ganai and Sham Lal Bhagat secured 61.2 and 61.3 per cent votes respectively in J-2 and J-1 constituencies respectively.
The BJP was the worst sufferer in Jammu division and “pro-establishment attitude” of some of its top brass in putting up “weak candidates” for the elections was badly exposed as the party was relegated to third and fourth place in J-1 and J-2 seats respectively behind the PDP and the NPP.
Insiders in the BJP confirmed that some leaders in top hierarchy of the BJP had deliberately fielded weak candidates and then didn’t campaign in many areas to ensure thumping victory of the coalition candidates. Some of the BJP leaders, who were sincere to the party and wanted to give a fight to the Alliance, were sidelined, they said.
The NC-Congress had contested one seat each in Jammu and Kashmir divisions in alliance with each other.
In J-1 constituency, Sham Lal Bhagat of Congress, a Sarpanch from remote village of Assar in Doda district, polled 9123 votes from total of 14,874 votes polled for J-1 seat. PDP candidate Gurmeet Singh, also a Sarpanch from RS Pura came second with 2089 votes. The victory margin of Mr Bhagat was 7034 votes. NPP candidate Anita Thakur came third securing 1232 votes while BJP nominee Colonel (Retired) Uttam Singh polled 1200 votes only.
Votes secured by other candidates in J-1 seat included Puran Chand (92), Thoru Ram (62), Choudhary Anwar (23), Ram Mohammad (48), Sham Lal (73), Fazal Alam Wani (111), Kartar Singh (378), Mohammad Razzaq Khan (101), Nazir Ahmad Mir (53) and Harjeet Kumar (289).
In J-2 seat, out of 14,812 votes polled, Dr Shehnaz Ganai of National Conference got 9070 votes while her nearest rival Ved Mahajan of PDP secured 2153 votes. Dr Ganai recorded victory margin of 6917 votes. BJP’s Rash Paul Verma came third with 1621 votes while NPP’s Mohammad Rafiq Chandel, a Sarpanch from Udhampur managed 1362 votes only.
Votes secured by other candidates on J-2 seats were Jatinder Singh (94), Ram Chand (338) and Fazal Alam Wani (174).
In K-1 constituency, NC’s Ali Mohammad Dar defeated his nearest rival Peer Mohammad Hussain of PDP by 2675 votes. Of 16,155 votes polled, Mr Dar secured 8586 and Peer Hussain 5911.
For K-2 seat, Ghulam Nabi Monga of Congress got 8659 votes as against PDP candidate Yasir Reshi, who got the support of 6094 electorates. Monga’s victory margin was 2565 votes.
Each Sarpanch and Panch was entitled to cast two votes each for two candidates in his division.
As against 61.3 per cent votes secured by Alliance candidate Sham Lal Bhagat for J-1 seat from the total votes polled, the PDP got 14 per cent, NPP 8.2 per cent and BJP 8 per cent votes. On J-2 seat, Alliance representative Dr Shehnaz Ganai mustered 61.2 pc votes while PDP took 14.5 per cent, BJP 10.9 per cent and NPP 9.1 per cent.
Political observers were of the view that the victory of National Conference and Congress candidates was significant as this was for the first time after 2009 Parliamentary elections that both parties were contesting any election together. Further, the Electoral College for the elections comprised Sarpanchs and Panchs, who were for the past sometime strongly protesting against the Government for denial of their empowerment and security.
“It was a good showing by the Alliance candidates”, they said.
The BJP, they pointed out, remained a divided house and was more interesting in appeasing the present ruling dispensation instead of canvassing for their candidates leading to bad finish at the husting by two candidates of the party in Jammu division. This was evident from the fact that BJP candidates fared very badly in the constituencies held by the party legislators.
In Dansal block of Nagrota segment held by BJP’s two time MLA Jugal Kishore, who has been projecting himself as the state party president, the BJP candidates polled 53 and 48 votes as against NC’s 183 and Congress 180. During past about four years, Chief Minister’s Political Advisor Devender Singh Rana has been aggressively campaigning in Nagrota Assembly segment, which brought the results. Despite other hectic schedule and campaigning in other areas, Mr Rana rattled the BJP stronghold, leaving the BJP way behind in the votes.
In Marh block of another BJP MLA Choudhary Sukhnandan, BJP candidates got 74 and 73 votes while NC and Congress polled 111 and 112 votes.
In RS Pura block, which accounted for BJP MLA Choudhary Sham Lal and BJP rebel Gharu Ram, BJP secured 101 and 73 votes as against 193 of NC and 170 of Congress.
Even in Hiranagar block, the home town of BJP candidate Rash Paul Verma, he polled 76 votes while his colleague Uttam Singh got 45. The Congress polled 157 and NC 123 votes.
The NPP which trounced BJP to fourth place in J-1 seat, showed the way to the BJP by ensuring victory of its lightweight candidates on all three Assembly constituencies held by the party including Ramnagar, Udhampur and Samba.
In Harshdev Singh’s Ramnagar, the NPP candidates got 114 and 115 votes as against 61 by Congress and 57 by NC while in Udhampur, held by Balwant Singh Mankotia, the NPP candidates got 187 and 170 votes as compared to 114 of Congress and 97 of NC. In Samba constituency of NPP MLA Yash Paul Kundal, the NPP candidates polled 142 and 136 votes as against 90 and 80 of NC and Congress respectively.
The PDP too couldn’t give lead to its two candidates in two Assembly segments of Darhal and Mendhar held by its MLAs Choudhary Zulfikar and Rafiq Hussain Khan in Rajouri and Poonch districts respectively. In Darhal, the PDP candidates polled 56 and 54 votes while NC and Congress got 95 and 82 votes respectively. In Mendhar, the PDP polled 120 and 137 votes while NC and Congress got 311 and 249 votes respectively.
In all constituencies of BJP rebels, the candidates of National Conference and Congress were way ahead of BJP, PDP and NPP. The rebels hadn’t fielded their own candidates anticipating that it might invoke the provisions of Anti-Defection Law.
In Basohli, held by BJP rebel Jagdish Raj Sapolia, BJP candidates got 10 and 29 votes as against NC’s 121 and Congress’ 111 while in Bani, held by another BJP rebel Master Lal Chand, BJP got 18 and 6 votes as against 58 of NC and 73 of Congress. In yet another BJP rebel Baldev Sharma’s Reasi segment, the BJP candidates polled 12 and 15 votes while NC and Congress got 212 and 169 votes respectively.
The political observers said the elections were clear indications that despite losing and finishing way behind the Alliance candidates, the PDP had made deep inroads in Jammu at the cost of the BJP as its candidates came runner-up in both J-1 and J-2 constituencies relegating the BJP to third and fourth places. Even in one of the seat, the NPP stood third pushing BJP to fourth spot.
They added that it was high time for the BJP to bring clean image candidate with caliber and potential in the front line to prepare for 2014 Parliament and Assembly elections or, otherwise, the party would meet the same fate like the one it met today.
Soon after their elections, NC and Congress candidates Dr Shehnaz Ganai and Sham Lal Bhagat declared that they would work for the people and more empowerment of Panchayats. Both the candidates also called on Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and sought his blessings in working for the people of rural and down trodden areas.
The ruling National Conference (NC)- Congress coalition has made deep inroads in opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) stronghold of South Kashmir as party’s both the candidates got drubbing at the hands of their opponents in the Legislative Council elections for which results were declared today.
Both the coalition candidates of the PDP, Peer Mohammad Hussain and Yasir Reshi, were defeated by their rivals NC’s Ali Mohammad Dar and Congress’s Ghulam Nabi Monga by a margin of 2675 and 2565 votes respectively.
For the K-1 constituency of Kashmir province, National Conference candidate Ali Muhammad Dar secured 8586 votes whileas Hussain got 5911 votes out of 16155 votes polled for the constituency. For the K-2 seat, Ghulam Nabi Monga of Congress secured 8659 votes whileas Reshi got 6094 votes.
The coalition candidates have taken lead in all the districts of the Kashmir valley and Ladakh division except in K1and K2 seats in district Srinagar and K2 in Budgam and Pulwama districts.
The South Kashmir that is said to be PDP’s stronghold where it swept the polls in 2008 Assembly elections with Congress taking two, NC one and CPI (M) one seats, the PDP got drubbed at the hands of the ruling coalition.
In district Anantnag, South Kashmir, ruling coalition secured 1048 and 1177 votes while PDP secured 928 and 839 in K1 and K2 seats respectively.
In Pulwama, South Kashmir, ruling coalition secured 709 and 652 votes while PDP secured 684 and 731 in K1 and K2 seats respectively.
In Kulgam, South Kashmir, ruling coalition secured 650 and 650 votes while PDP secured 435 and 432 in K1 and K2 seats respectively.
In Shopian, South Kashmir, ruling coalition secured 330 and 296 votes while PDP secured 232 and 241 in K1 and K2 seats respectively.
In Central Kashmir’s district of Srinagar, Budgam and Ganderbal where the National Conference has won 12 seats in Assembly with PDP 2 and Independent one PDP, the difference in votes share between coalition and PDP has been less.
In Srinagar district, central Kashmir, ruling coalition secured 39 and 39 votes while PDP secured 48 and 47 in K1 and K2 seats respectively.
In Budgam district, central Kashmir, ruling coalition secured 1138 and 1109 votes while PDP secured 1064 and 1122 in K1 and K2 seats respectively.
In Ganderbal district, central Kashmir, ruling coalition secured 499 and 431votes while PDP secured 288 and 353 in K1 and K2 seats respectively.
In Baramulla district, North Kashmir, ruling coalition secured 1596 and 1566 votes while PDP secured 984 and 1035 in K1 and K2 seats respectively.
In Kupwara district, North Kashmir, ruling coalition secured 1237 and 1162 votes while PDP secured 885 and 977 in K1 and K2 seats respectively.
In Bandipora district, North Kashmir, ruling coalition secured 554 and 566 votes while PDP secured 344 and 345 in K1 and K2 seats respectively.
In Kargil district, Ladakh, ruling coalition secured 323 and 523 votes while PDP secured 28 and 14 in K1 and K2 seats respectively.
In Leh district, Ladakh, ruling coalition secured 529 and 514 votes while PDP secured 42 and 18 in K1 and K2 seats respectively.
Soon after the results were announced there were jubilations at the SKICC, where votes were being counted, with the workers of the ruling coalition raising slogans in favour of the NC and Congress candidates and parties and the ruling coalition. This was followed by celebrations at the Nawi Subhe headquarters of the NC.
The Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister, Ali Mohammad Sagar, who joined the celebrations at SKICC described it as a big victory for coalition. He said that all the misgivings about differences in the coalition have been cleared now. “We have to consolidate it in future”, he added.
The coalition candidate from the Congress, Ghulam Nabi Monga, while interacting with the media after his victory said that he will work for fulfilling the promises which he made with the Panchayat members during his campaign.
The coalition’s NC candidate, Ali Mohammad Dar, said that he will work for the empowerment of the Panchayats in the State as he is their representative in the Legislative Council now.
The Chief spokesman of the PDP Nayeem Akhtar admitted that his party has suffered reverses in South Kashmir but said that they are not permanent. “PDP is firmly rooted in South Kashmir”, he added.
Akhtar said that the PDP has expanded in Kupwara and established itself in Central Kashmir. He said that out of 61blocks in Kashmir valley PDP has taken lead in 28 blocks including Vakura block in Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s Ganderbal constituency. “We have no presence in Ladakh region which made the difference and it is a major concern for us”, he added.
The PDP spokesman said that in this election where its both the candidates were defeated was a contest between PDP versus the rest in the state. “We have made progress in Jammu where we have only 2 seats in Assembly”, he added.
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