The votes are in for the 90 assembly seats in Jammu and Kashmir. After a long decade, elections have concluded with the National Conference and Congress alliance nearing a majority. To control the Jammu and Kashmir assembly, 46 seats are required. The National Conference grabbed 42 while Congress managed 6 seats.
This election was notably different as it was the first since Article 370 was revoked. An additional 7 assembly seats were introduced: 6 in Jammu and 1 in the Kashmir region. Before delimitation, Jammu had 37 and Kashmir had 46 assembly seats, which have now increased.
The BJP had hoped for a better outcome, with leaders claiming victories in 30 to 35 seats in Jammu. However, they secured only 29 seats, all within the Jammu region. Notably, BJP did not make any gains in the Kashmir Valley.
In the last assembly election, BJP won 25 seats in Jammu and Kashmir. This time, they've secured 29. The results could have been lower had 6 new seats not been added in Jammu due to delimitation—BJP managed to win 5 of these newly created seats. Only one was won by an independent candidate.
One seat each was added in Samba, Kathua, Rajouri, Kishtwar, Doda, and Udhampur in the Jammu region. These newly created seats are: Ramgarh in Samba, Jasrota in Kathua, Thannamandi in Rajouri, Paddar-Nagseni in Kishtwar, Doda West in Doda, and Ramnagar in Udhampur.
- Ramgarh:
BJP's Dr. Devinder Kumar Manyal clinched victory, defeating Congress's Yash Paul Kundal by 14,035 votes.
- Jasrota:
BJP candidate Rajeev Jasrotia defeated independent Brijeshwar Singh by 12,420 votes. Rajeev Jasrotia received 34,157 votes while Brijeshwar Singh bagged 21,737.
- Thannamandi:
Independent candidate Muzaffar Iqbal Khan won by a margin of 6,179 votes, defeating BJP's Iqbal Malik.
- Paddar-Nagseni:
BJP's Sunil Kumar Sharma surpassed National Conference's candidate Pooja Thakur by 1,546 votes. PDP's Sandeep Kumar finished third.
- Doda West:
BJP's Shakti Raj Parihar secured 33,964 votes, defeating Congress's Pradeep Kumar by 3,453 votes.
- Ramnagar:
Sunil Bhardwaj of the BJP won by 9,306 votes, defeating Ashri Devi of the Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party. Congress's Mool Raj finished third.
Jammu loses on 'Jalwa'; no foothold in Kashmir... Where did BJP falter in the Valley's politics?
BJP lost on 2 Hindu-majority seats in Jammu
The BJP has consistently led in the Jammu region. This time, they anticipated strong results. Nevertheless, BJP lost on two Hindu-majority seats—Bani and Ramban.
In Bani, Dr. Rameshwar Singh, an independent candidate, defeated BJP's Jeevan Lal by a margin of 2,048 votes. Jeevan Lal had won here in the 2014 election. Meanwhile, in Ramban, the National Conference's Arjun Singh Raju triumphed, defeating BJP defector and independent candidate Suraj Singh Parihar by 9,013 votes. BJP's candidate Rakesh Singh Thakur came third.
In the 2014 assembly elections, BJP had won 25 seats while PDP emerged as the largest party with 28 seats, forming a coalition government. In June 2018, BJP broke the coalition with PDP, leading to the government's collapse.
