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Omar leading on both seats he contested, Iltija, Ravinder Raina trailing
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)’s Iltija Mufti was trailing in her family stronghold of Bijbehara and J&K Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Ravinder Raina in Nowshera
Former Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) chief minister and National Conference (NC) leader Omar Abdullah was leading on both seats he contested— Ganderbal and Budgam—while Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)’s Iltija Mufti was trailing in her family stronghold of Bijbehara and J&K Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Ravinder Raina in Nowshera, early trends showed.
NC’s Surinder Choudhary was ahead by 5,529 votes against Raina. Choudhary secured 8,910 votes compared to Raina’s 3381 votes. In 2014. Raina defeated Choudhary by a margin of 9,503 votes.
NC’s Bashir Ahmad Shah Veeri was leading by 1,847 votes in Bijbehara, which has been with the PDP since 1998. Former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, Iltija Mufti’s mother, and her father Mufti Mohammad Sayeed have represented the seat.
Former BJP leader Pawan Khajuria was leading in Udhampur East. Khajuria, who quit the BJP after he was denied the ticket, was leading by 1,816 votes against BJP’s RS Pathania.
Jailed separatist leader Sarjan Barkati was trailing in Beerwah in the initial round of counting against NC’s Mohammad Shafi Wani, who had a lead of 788 votes in the first round of counting. Barkati’s 17-year-old daughter, Sugra Barkati, led his campaign.
Former minister and Peoples Conference (PC) leader Sajjad Gani Lone was leading in Handwara by just 390 votes. In the first round of counting, Lone got 2,976 votes. He was ahead of NC’s Chowdhary Mohammad Ramzan. Lone also contested from Kupwara.
In Srinagar, the NC was leading on all seats in the early counting. Overall, the NC-Congress combine was leading on 48 of the 90 seats and the BJP 29. The PDP, which has indicated support for the NC-Congress alliance and was the single-largest party in 2014, was ahead on three seats. The Congress was leading on eight seats, PC on three, and others on nine.
The NC was ahead on 31 of the 40 seats it contested in the Kashmir Valley. The Congress was leading on five seats in the Kashmir Valley and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) on one seat. Independents were ahead on three seats in Kashmir’s 47. The BJP, which contested 19 seats in Kashmir, was trailing on all the seats in the first two rounds of counting.
Abdullah, who spoke to reporters minutes after counting began, stressed that the poll outcome would only be evident by afternoon and that they hoped to win. “The decision has been made by the voters of Jammu & Kashmir, and we will get to know it by today afternoon,” Abdullah said. He underlined the need for transparency. “If people’s mandate is against BJP, they should not pull off any tricks”.
