SRINAGAR: Although BJP retained both its Lok Sabha seats in Jammu and Kashmir for a third term, its vote bank dropped between 5 and 10%, while Congress, despite losing both seats, has witnessed an increase in vote bank.
It is a mixed bag for NC, which won two Valley seats and lost one, while PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti’s vote bank has decreased. The vote share of jailed ex-MLA Er Rashid, who created a major upset by winning the Baramulla seat, has doubled.
Of the five LS seats, BJP retained both Jammu and Udhampur seats while NC retained two seats (Srinagar and Anantnag), but the party’s vice president and former CM Omar Abdullah suffered shock defeat at hands of jailed ex-MLA Er Rashid.
Dr Jitendra Singh, who retained the Udhampur seat for a third successive term, secured 5,71,076 votes with 51.28% vote share. His vote share has dropped by nearly 10%. Singh had got 61.24% vote share in 2019 polls when he had secured 7,24,311 votes.
His opponent, Lal Singh of Congress, secured 4,46,703 votes with 40.11% vote share. The Congress’s vote bank from the seat has increased by nearly 10%. In the 2019 polls, Congress’s Vikramditya Singh got 31.04% vote share.
In the Jammu seat, where BJP’s Jugal Kishore won for third term, the party’s vote bank has dropped by nearly 5%. In the 2019 polls, Jugal secured 57.81% of the vote share compared to 52.8% of the vote share this time.