ULB polls: BJP sweeps JMC, independents emerge single-largest group in Kashmir
The BJP swept the Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) elections and made some advances in Kashmir, by winning 100 wards in the valley, in the four-phased Urban Local Bodies (ULB) elections in the state that were marred by boycott by the NC and PDP.
Independents Saturday emerged as the single largest group in the elections in Kashmir by winning 178 wards across 42 municipal bodies in Kashmir division, including Leh and Kargil, elections authorities said.
The Congress was ahead of the BJP in the valley by bagging 157 wards, while saffron party won in 100 wards, they said.
The boycott call by separatists, coupled with threats by militants, and non-participation of the National Conference and the PDP, helped both the BJP and the Congress in a major way as 76 and 78 candidates from the respective national parties were elected unopposed.
While the BJP emerged as the single largest party in 12 municipal bodies, it has majority in five of these bodies.
The Congress was the single largest party in 15 bodies, having majority in 11 of them, they said.
In the prestigious Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC), the Congress won 16 seats and the BJP won in four wards. Independents bagged the 53 seats in the 74member body.
Junaid Azim Mattu, who resigned from NC to contest the elections, was among the prominent winners. He had contested from four wards and won from three.
The BJP, which had won the Ladakh constituency in 2014 Lok Sabha elections, got a drubbing from the Congress in Leh and Kargil civic bodies. The saffron party failed to open its account in the two bodies while Congress bagged all 13 seats in Leh and six seats in Kargil.
In Jammu, the Congress suffered a big loss in the election, winning only 14 seats in the 74-member house. Independent candidates won 18 seats in the JMC, they said.
The party this time bettered its previous strength of 25 in the House.
In rest of the 446 wards spread across Jammu region covering a total of 36 municipal committees and councils, the BJP had an edge over its rivals in 15 bodies followed by Independents in 12 and the Congress in five, they said.
The BJP won a total of 169 seats in these bodies followed by independents at 167 and the Congress at 96, the officials said.