J&K POLLS: PAGD AHEAD IN TRENDS
Trends show the BJP has strengthened its position in Jammu, while PAGD in Valley
NEW DELHI: The newly formed People’s Alliance on Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) was leading in 81 seats and was declared winners on 30 of them whereas the BJP was seen leading in 56 seats and emerged victorious in eight of them as counting of votes of the District Development Council (DDC) elections in Jammu and Kashmir was underway on Tuesday evening.
The Congress was seen leading in 19 seats and has bagged four seats so far, in the first election in Jammu and Kashmir since its special status was scrapped and it was made a Union Territory. NC vice president Omar Abdullah said people from Jammu as well as Kashmir have extended complete support to the Gupkar alliance and endorsed its plan seeking restoration of J-K’s special status by giving a befitting reply to the BJP in the DDC polls.
SRINAGAR/JAMMU: The People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), an amalgam of seven political parties, was ahead in 73 seats and the BJP in 50 as votes for elections to District Development Councils in Jammu and Kashmir were counted on Tuesday, officials said.
The Congress was trailing in number three position with leads in 21 seats in the trends available for 193 of the 280 seats for which voting was held over eight phases, officials said quoting the State Election Commission. The trends in most seats in the maiden DDC elections are in accordance with expectations – the BJP strengthening its position in Jammu division while the PAGD, which includes regional heavyweights National Conference and People’s Democratic Party, is ahead in the Valley.
Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday termed the results and emerging trends of the District Development Council polls as an eye-opener for the BJP and its “proxy political party”, and said people have rejected the decision of revoking the erstwhile state’s special status.
Abdullah, who is the vice president of the National Conference (NC), told PTI that the results and trends are an “important milestone” for the People’s Alliance on Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) as they endorse the “out view” that revoking the special status of the erstwhile state of J-K and downgrading it into a Union Territory was not accepted by the people.
“Now if the BJP and its proxy political party believe in democracy, as they have stated, they should immediately reverse their decision and respect the verdict of the people of this region,” he said.
The NC leader said that the BJP had flown in a number of Union ministers and central leaders to campaign for the DDC elections. “The BJP is the one which turned these elections as a referendum of its policy of 2019. I hope they have understood the desire of the people,” he said.
The BJP has made gains in Bandipora’s Gurez area with leads in two seats.
PDP leader Waheed Para, under arrest for his alleged links with militants, was leading in his Pulwama constituency by a huge margin.
The BJP on Tuesday won an election for the first time from any seat in Kashmir while facing regional heavyweights like the National Conference and the PDP. Aijaz Hussain won the Khonmoh-II District Development Council seat in Srinagar, while Aijaz Ahmad Khan gave the party more reason to cheer by winning the Tulail seat in Bandipora district.
Crediting the policies of Prime
Minister Narendra Modi and hard work of party workers for his success, Hussain said the DDC election was a fight between the BJP and rest of the parties.
“This is a win for the BJP. The propaganda has been bust as people have shown their faith in the prime minister and his policies. This is a message that nationalists are prospering in Kashmir,” he told reporters outside the counting centre at SKICC here.
This is the first election after Jammu and Kashmir’s special status under Article 370 was revoked last year and it was reorganised into a union territory. A day ahead of the counting, authorities detained several PDP and second rung NC leaders, including Naeem Akhtar, Sartaj Madni, Peer Mansoor and Hilal Ahmad Lone. No reason was given for the detentions.
The votes were being counted in Jammu and Kashmir regions amid tight security arrangements. There are 140 DDC seats in Jammu, 14 in each district across the region that recorded heavy turnout of voters in the just concluded polls.
Trends available for 95 DDC seats till noon showed the BJP leading in 51 constituencies followed by the National Conference, one of the seven constituents of the PAGD, officials in Jammu said.