According to early trends, Jammu and Kashmir appears to be going in favour of the Congress-National Conference, but the race in Haryana is extremely close, with the Congress taking on the BJP, which is seeking to regain power for the third time in a row.
In Haryana, the numbers are tied and change every hour, favouring either the Congress or the BJP. As things stand today, the BJP leads in 46 seats, closely followed by the Congress, that leads in 40.
Early trends indicate that the National Conference-Congress combination is likely to form the government in Jammu and Kashmir, while smaller parties and independents, who have been accused by some of being the BJP’s proxies, are not making much of an impression.
National Conference Vice President Omar Abdullah has a worry if his party’s alliance wins in Jammu and Kashmir. “Should the people’s mandate be against the BJP, then they should not make attempts to distort it. Raj Bhawan and the Centre should accept the verdict, as we do.”
On the concerns regarding nominated members he said, “Legal experts have given their opinion that the LG does not have the authority to nominate members by himself. Members will be nominated after the assembly takes shape. This is what is done in Parliament as well. The LG may well be the nominee of the Centre, but the Constitution must be kept in mind and the five members that are to be nominated must be as per the advice of the government that is formed today.”
Anil Vij, a six-term MLA, has slowly gained ground in the Ambala Cantt. He declares that if the BJP wins, he will stake a claim to the position of chief minister.
If the figures are accurate, the BJP will have failed to establish a presence in the Valley once more. After two rounds of counting, National Conference candidate Nazir Ahmad Khan is leading BJP opponent Faqeer Mohammad Khan by more than 1,500 votes in Gurez, the one seat the party was expecting to win.
After two hours of counting, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which had 28 seats and was the largest party in the 2014 Assembly elections, is now only ahead in three seats, two of which are in south Kashmir and one of which is in north Kashmir.
This is the party’s worst performance since it was founded in 1999. In its first electoral fight in 2002, the party had won 16 seats, followed by 21 seats in 2008 and 28 seats in 2014. The party has failed to make a mark in its south Kashmir stronghold as well where it is leading only on two out of 11 seats. One of the reasons for PDP’s dismal performance is the perception in the valley that the party can’t come to power and it is better to rally behind an alliance – National Conference-Congress alliance – that has better chances to win. The PDP’s alliance with the BJP in 2014 that was seen as a betrayal of the popular vote in Kashmir has also contributed to the PDP’s worst ever performance.
