J&K polls: BJP retains its dominance in Jammu, posts best-ever performance

The BJP has scored a hat-trick of victories in both the Lok Sabha seats in Jammu since 2014.

As trends rapidly convert into wins in Jammu and Kashmir, a clear message that emerges from the poll outcome is the Bharatiya Janata Party's continuing domination in the Jammu region. As per the lastest numbers by the Election Commission, the saffron party is maintaining comfortable leads in 28 seats. In 2014, the party had won 25 seats from Jammu.

The Congress, which was hoping to regain its lost ground in the Jammu division, hasn't been able to stop the saffron party as it surpassed its 2014 tally.

Jammu was once the stronghold of the Congress, but it has lost its ground in the region since 2014. The BJP has scored a hat-trick of victories in both the Lok Sabha seats in Jammu since 2014.

A stronger performance in the Valley was crucial for BJP’s ambition of getting its first chief minister in Jammu and Kashmir. However, the electoral math did not seem to work out for the party in the region. The first signs of this were evident during the Lok Sabha elections when the BJP failed to contest any of the three parliamentary segments in the Valley.

To many, this was seen as an acknowledgement of the party’s inability to achieve its mission in Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370. In the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party had won two seats from the Jammu region-- Jammu and Udhampur.

Despite falling short of the seats, BJP is set to win the highest vote share in the Union Territory. According to current Election Commission trends, BJP is likely to get 25.85% of the votes while National Conference will get around 23.3% of the votes. Even in the 2014 assembly elections in J&K, BJP recorded the highest vote share in J&K at 22.98%.