J&K witnessed an intensely contested election for Indian Parliament in 2014 summer. Despite floods, assembly elections will have the first of the five phases next week. Saima Bhat offers detailed results of the last Lok Sabha polls assembly segment wise for the ready reference of users at a time when assembly, not Lok Sabha is in focus
Pic: Bilal Bahadur
Lok Sabha polls were a sure surprise for everybody. PDP in Kashmir harvested the massive anti-incumbency wave and the BJP in Jammu used the Modi wave to unseat the ruling coalition. In the last Lok Sabha, NC had three Kashmir and Congress had two of Jammu and one of Ladakh. Summer 2014 polls routed the coalition completely as all the three Kashmir seats were taken by PDP and BJP wrested the three including that of Ladakh that it won by the lowest ever margin – 36 votes.
There were 7183129 registered voters for the Lok Sabha polls of whom 3535313 actually came out and voted. BJP emerged the most-polled political party as it secured 1154220 votes that make 36.65% of all the polled votes. Though Congress polled 815510 votes making 23.07% of the all polled stuff, it could not secure any seat.
But the real contest was between the regional parties NC and PDP. Unlike PDP that contested five of the six seats, NC had a seat sharing arrangement with Congress. NC contested three Kashmir seats and gave three of Jammu and Ladakh to Congress. PDP secured 732644 votes making 20.72% of the total polled votes and NC secured 396713 votes making it the lowest polled party securing only 11.22% of the polled votes. Panthers Party, another Udhampur based regional party, could poll only 43452 votes which makes 1.23% of the total votes.
Compared to the 2008 assembly election, the Lok Sabha voting pattern suggested a lot of change. Then, BJP had won 11 seats and polled 49375 votes which was only 12.45% of the total polled votes. Congress had won 17 berths, securing 70248 votes which was 17.1% of the polled votes. After winning 28 – the highest number of seats, the NC secured 914691 votes which was 23.07% of the total polled votes. PDP emerged the second major party with 21 seats in the state assembly with a vote share of 61052 which was 15.39% of the total votes polled.
Had Lok Sabha polls of 2014 summer been an assembly election, PDP might have been in power because it won the highest number of assembly seats. It won as many as 41 assembly seats across the state followed by BJP with 25 seats. While Congress ended up getting 12 seats (excluding its two seats that its proxy candidates in Kargil might have secured), the NC was reduced to an all time low tally of six seats.
The district wise comparison is interesting. Take Baramulla, for instance. PDP bagged 11 of the 15 seats. NC retained three and engineer Rashid also retained his seat. Compared to 2008, NC lost seven berths and Ghulam Hassan Mir also lost his seat. Instead, NC gained Uri, otherwise a Congress berth. PDP’s former Deputy Chief Minister Muzaffar Hussain Beig defeated sitting MP Shareef ud Din Shariq.
The central Kashmir Srinagar constituency was a shocking surprise because Dr Farooq Abdullah lost for the first time in his political career to another PDP former Finance Minister Tariq Hameed Karra. Of the 15 seats making Srinagar, PDP bagged 12 and three were retained were NC. The net loss was to the ruling NC because it lost nine seats. Even Hakim Yasin lost his berth to PDP.
South Kashmir was represented by Dr Mehbooba Beig in the Lok Sabha. In this election he lost to Ms Mehbooba Mufti. All the 16 berths were swept away by the PDP and that makes NC losing Noorabad, Yousuf Tarigami losing his seat and Congress losing two seats of Dooru and Kokernag – all to PDP.
The arid Ladakh desert was more interesting. Comprising four assembly seats, two each in Leh and Kargil, NC had two seats in the region. Congress one and Nubra was represented by an independent. As Congress and BJP fielded Buddhists from Leh, the Muslim Kargil fielded candidates independently. It ended up dividing the Muslim votes making BJP win the seat. But assembly segment wise, Congress won Nubra and left Leh for BJP. It managed both the Leh seats through its proxy Ghulam Raza. That also meant NC lost Kargil and Zanskar completely.
Jammu was more interesting as BJP almost devoured Congress. BJP won 15 of 20 seats in Jammu Lok Sabha constituency. Of the remaining five, three were taken by Congress and two by PDP. While retaining seven seats it had since 2008, BJP wrested one seat of Panthers Party, three of NC, and three from Congress, besides Bishnah which was with an independent. The net loss to Congress was two seats, NC lost all the four seats besides a Pather seat. PDP had two berths – Darhal and Mendhar and they lost both. But interestingly, they won Surankote and Poonch Haveli. At the end of the day Congress’s Madal Lal lost this seat to BJPs Jugal Kishore Sharma after retaining it twice in the past.
As for as the Udhampur seat is concerned, it had the biggest casualty ever – Ghulam Nabi Azad lost the seat to Dr Jitendra Singh Rana. It has 17 assembly segment of which BJP secured nine seats and Congress eight seats. BJP had only four seats in this Lok Sabha segment and it improved its tally to nine wresting two seats each from Panthers Party and Congress and an independent from Kathua.
Now when all the political parties are against seeking votes for forming the next assembly and the next government in J&K, the only interesting factor is that NC, PDP and Congress making the secular trio of the state are seeking votes separately. In contrast, the BJP is seeking vote for the ideas and ideals that it has been campaigning in J&K for a long time starting from Parja Parishad days. How different this election is going to be, is now anybody’s guess.
