Congress, NC emerge major beneficiaries in J&K
The results of the Lok Sabha elections in Jammu and Kashmir have thrown up a mixed bag of fortunes for all contesting parties with ruling Congress and opposition National Conference emerging as major beneficiaries.
The results of the Lok Sabha elections in Jammu and Kashmir have thrown up a mixed bag of fortunes for all contesting parties with ruling Congress and opposition National Conference emerging as major beneficiaries.
Both Congress and National Conference bagged two seats each as the former consolidated the gains made in the 2002 assembly polls while the latter put a halt to the downward slide following its ouster from power in the state 18 months ago.
The People's Democratic Party (PDP) will have an uphill task in stemming the decline in its popularity although party president Mehbooba Mufti won the Anantnag parliamentary constituency by a margin of over 38,000 votes.
PDP, which had put up candidates in all three constituencies of Kashmir valley, fared well in Srinagar and Baramulla constituencies in terms of votes polled but fell short by 23,000 and 10,000 votes respectively in both the constituencies.
National Conference, which held five of the six seats in the state in the 13th Lok Sabha, got a new lease of life as party president Omar Abdullah retained the Srinagar seat to complete a historic hat trick.
This year's elections were being seen as a make or break test for the National Conference president who suffered a humiliating defeat in the 2002 assembly polls from party's stronghold Ganderbal.
After being declared victorious on Thursday, Abdullah was candid enough to admit that this win would infuse new life into the party which not so long ago many people had written off as irrelevant.