Jammu Kashmir Election Result Updates: J&K BJP chief hails "unprecedented support" in Kashmir despite limited wins

JKNC vice president Omar Abdullah's son, Zahir Abdullah says, "The mandate was expected. I am humbled by the love that we are getting, humbled by all the support that we are getting. Now, we will live up to the expectations...My message to the youth is to be informed, it's to keep up with the news, to educate yourself, to be a decent person. Know what is happening, that is my message to the youth."

National Conference Vice President Omar Abdullah Wednesday said the Congress will have to introspect deep to find reasons for its defeat in Haryana, where the BJP is set to return for a third consecutive term.

The NC and Congress fought the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly polls as allies.

"I had already said we were only wasting our time with these exit polls. But no one would have thought that the exit polls would be so wrong. Had it been 20 in place of 18 or 22 in place of 20, (we could have understood). But what happened was that 30 became 60 and 60 became 30," the NC leader told reporters here.

JKNC leader Sheikh Bashir Ahmad says, "I thank the public of J&K for voting for the JKNC-Congress in large numbers...Tomorrow the legislative party meeting will be held and the leader of the house will be chosen and then the claim to form the government will be submitted...National Conference will respect the mandate of the public and ensure the development of all the regions"

Whichever CM is sworn-in in the next few days, there will be two sets of priorities - one is legislative, which will be determined by the members of the Assembly when the session is called but the other is government-related. My own suggestion to the incoming government would be that first business of the cabinet should be to pass a resolution asking for statehood to be restored to J&K and the CM should travel to Delhi with that resolution, call on the senior leadership of the country and ask them to fulfill their promise, Omar Abdullah said on October 9.

It will be a government for every individual of J&K regardless of who they voted for or whether they voted at all...Special emphasis will be placed on giving a sense of ownership and a voice within the government to those areas from where MLAs in this coalition will be less in number, says Omar Abdullah.

I am humbled by the verdict of the people, humbled by the mandate that the people have given. I am also acutely aware of the responsibility that this mandate places upon us, says National Conference vice president and likely CM Omar Abdullah.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Wednesday described the JKNC-Congress win in Jammu and Kashmir polls as a "stupendous victory" and said it marks the beginning of a just and inclusive future that honours the hopes of every Kashmiri.

In a post on social media platform 'X', Stalin said: "Congratulations to the JKNC-INC alliance and the people of Jammu & Kashmir on the stupendous victory! This is more than just a win for #INDIA and democracy—it's a mandate to fulfil the aspirations of restoring the dignity and statehood of Jammu and Kashmir that the Union BJP Government unjustly stripped away.

"This moment marks the beginning of a just and inclusive future that honours the hopes of every Kashmiri".

National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah on Tuesday won the party's bastion of Ganderbal in the Jammu and Kashmir assembly election by defeating PDP's Bashir Ahmad Mir by over 10,000 votes.

Abdullah has also won the Budgam seat by a margin of over 18,000 votes.

In Ganderbal, Abdullah secured 32,727 votes, winning by a margin of 10,574 against his nearest rival Mir who polled 22,153 votes.

The Aam Aadmi Party registered its first victory in assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday when its candidate Mehraj Malik defeated his nearest rival from the BJP in Doda constituency by a margin of over 4,538 votes.

Malik, a District Development Council (DDC) member, polled 23,228 votes against BJP's Gajay Singh Rana's 18,690 votes.

National Conference leader and former minister Khalid Najib Suharwardy and DPAP leader Abdul Majid Wani got 13,334 and 10,027 votes, respectively. Congress candidate Sheikh Riaz Ahmad was pushed to the fifth place having secured 4,170 votes.

The BJP had fielded 62 candidates this time with major focus on its strong bastion of Jammu region.

Twelve former legislators, including seven ministers, successfully contested the elections and mostly retained their seats. The rest of the party winners are new faces including a former police officer, a university professor and a former bureaucrat who have taken retirement recently to fight the elections besides a lone woman who had lost her father and uncle to a terror attack in November 2018.

J&K BJP chief Raina lost to National Conference nominee Surinder Choudhary from Nowshera seat by a margin of 7,819 votes. Raina had won the seat in 2014 assembly elections.

Similarly, former MLA Rajeev Sharma lost to Congress rebel Satish Sharma by 6,929 votes from Chhamb, former MLA Jewan Lal lost to independent candidate Rameshwar Singh by 2,048 votes in Bani, former MLA Faqeer Mohammad Khan lost to NC leader Nazir Ahmad Khan by 1,132 votes and former MLC Vibod Kumar lost to Congress candidate Iftkar Ahmed by a margin of 1,404 votes

The saffron party’s biggest setback in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections was the loss suffered by its Union Territory president Ravinder Raina from Nowshera constituency at the hands of National Conference. Besides, the party also failed to secure a win from any seat in Kashmir where most of its nearly two dozen candidates lost their security deposit.