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J&K polls: National Conference sweeps Capital Sringar
The National Conference won seven of the eight seats in Srinagar while the remaining one seat was won by its alliance partner and J&K Congress chief Tariq Karra
The National Conference (NC) has swept Srinagar by winning seven of the eight seats in the Jammu and Kashmir Capital while the remaining one seat was won by its alliance partner and J&K Congress chief Tariq Karra.
In the 2014 assembly elections, the People’s Democratic Party had swept five of the eight seats in Srinagar when there was a wave in favour of the party across the valley. In 2008 assembly polls, all the seats of Srinagar had voted for NC candidates.
The Abdullahs-led NC won the capital this time despite the delimitation commission changing the boundaries and names of some of the seats and a rigorous campaign by their political opponents like PDP, Apni Party (AP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (PDP).
“The NC’s win is reflective of what the mood has been in the city. The people have aligned with the valley’s grand old party and its stand on Article 370,” said Arshad Ahmad, a businessman in old city.
NC won Khanyar, Eidgah, Habba Kadal, Hazratbal, Lal Chowk, Channapora and Zadibal seats. As per the NC-Congress alliance terms, Central Shalteng was allotted to J&K Congress chief Tariq Karra who won the seat by 14,395 votes against an independent candidate.
The two safest citadels of NC in Srinagar, Khanyar and Eidgah, were won by old horses Ali Mohammad Sagar and Mubarak Gul, respectively, who have been representing the seats since 1996.
In Hazratbal, Ali Mohammad Sagar’s son and NC youth leader Salman Sagar, who is a former mayor of the city, made his debut and defeated former PDP MLA Asea Naqash by 10,295 votes.
In Lal Chowk seat, Sheikh Ahsan Pardesi defeated AP’s Mohammad Ashraf Mir by 11,343 votes. BJP’s Aijaz Hussain Rather came at a distant fifth with 3,281 votes.
The only woman candidate to win from Srinagar was Shamim Firdous by defeating BJP’s Ashok Kumar Bhat by 9,538 votes in Habba Kadal constituency, which has a good percentage of Kashmiri migrant pandit votes.
In Zadibal constituency, NC spokesperson Tanvir Sadiq defeated Peoples Conference’s Abid Hussain Ansari by 16,173 votes while former Srinagar mayor Junaid Mattu trailed at third position with just 2,700 votes.
In Chanapora, Apni Party chief Altaf Bukhari lost to NC candidate Mushtaq Guroo by 5,688 votes. Bukhari had led a protracted campaign in his constituency going from door to door seeking votes from people.
“Bukhari paid the price for his soft stance towards BJP leaders,” said a resident of Chanapora.
“More than votes for NC, this time people came out to make a point that BJP’s policies have no place in Kashmir. For the people in Srinagar, NC is a lesser evil than rest of the parties,” said Ali Mohammad, a resident of Kalashpora in Habba Kadal.
While J&K recorded an impressive 64 percent voting in the assembly elections, Srinagar was the lowest at 30.08 percent with Habba Kadal recording the lowest 19.8% polling and Lal chowk recording the highest 34.1%.
In the 2024 Parliament polls, NC candidate Ruhullah Mehdi had won the Srinagar Lok Sabha seat, securing majority in all the eight assembly segments.
