JK polls: NC-Cong alliance crosses halfway mark

Jammu/Srinagar: The National Conference-Congress alliance is likely to form government in Jammu and Kashmir with poll trends on Tuesday showing the combine ahead in 51 of the 90 seats while the BJP was leading in 28.

The National Conference and BJP have so far bagged two seats each.

Trends uploaded by the Election Commission showed that the PDP was ahead in two seats in the Union territory, Peoples Conference of Sajad Gani Lone was ahead in two seats while the Independents are leading in six seats. 

The National Conference was leading in 43 while its ally Congress was ahead in seven seats, the trends showed.

With the NC ahead of its rivals, party vice president Omar Abdullah said there should be no “fiddling” with the mandate of the people in Jammu and Kashmir.

“Transparency should be there. Whatever happens should be done in a transparent manner. There should be no fiddling with the peoples’ mandate. If the mandate of the people is against the BJP, then the BJP should not indulge in any ‘jugaad’ (machinations) or something else,” Abdullah told reporters in Srinagar.

“The Raj Bhavan and the Centre should accept the decision of people the way we did in the Parliamentary polls,” Abdullah told reporters here.

Omar Abdullah was leading by more than 8,500 votes in Budgam assembly segment after seven rounds of counting, while he had a lead of over 5,000 votes in Ganderbal seat after six rounds of counting.

  National Conference leader Nazir Ahmad Khan won the Gurez assembly segment for the fourth time in a row defeating BJP’s Faqeer Mohammad Khan by a margin of 1132 votes.

“Neither Ram Madhav has worked there nor has the defence minister. I have worked there for the people. I even told Omar Sahab not to come there as I have worked for the people there,” Khan told PTI Videos.

BJP’s Darshan Kumar defeated Congress leader Choudhary Lal Singh from Basholi in Jammu’s Kathua district while NC youth president Salman Sagar won the Hazratbal assembly seat defeating PDP leader and former minister Asiea Naqash by a margin of over 10,000 votes.

PDP president Mehbooba Mufti’s daughter Iltija Mufti, who was trailing by nearly 3800 votes to NC leader Bashir Ahmad Veeri from the Srigufwara-Bijbehara seat, said she accepts “the verdict of the people”. 

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 in his first reaction as the trends show NC-Congress alliance, of which CPI(M) is a part of, on way to a clear majority.

Tarigami said there has been a bureaucratic and LG rule in J-K since 2018 and there was no representation of the people.

“This rule has only increased difficulties. With a new secular government in place, the people of J-K will surely heave a sigh of relief,” he added.

“It seems that the people have taken a considered decision and voted against the rule that was here in the last few years and its policies. I hope that the secular parties are on their way to form the government,” he said.

To a question as to whether PDP president Mehbooba Mufti will be a part of the NC-Congress alliance for government formation, Tarigami expressed hope that the secular and non-BJP parties will come together.

“There is a demand from within (PDP) and their vision is also on the same lines that there should be a secular alternative. So, the PDP has a role in that,” he added.

Asked about J-K LG nominating five MLAs to the assembly, Tarigami said it is “totally undemocratic”.

“If the nominations are necessary, then the recommendations of the cabinet and the assembly are very important. The LG will say these are LG’s nominations, but he is unelected. This should be done on the recommendations of the elected government. But, if it is not, then it is backdoor,” he said.

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.