SRINAGAR: INDIA bloc parties—National Conference, PDP and Congress—have collectively taken lead in 46 of 90 Assembly segments in Jammu and Kashmir in the Lok Sabha polls, while the BJP and its ally Peoples Conference (PC) in 30 seats, an analysis of election results shows.
NC took lead in 34 seats, BJP in 29, Congress in 7, PDP in five, PC in one and independent candidate Er Rashid, lodged in Tihar jail, in 14 seats.
BJP leader and Union minister Jitendra Singh and BJP MP Jugal Kishore retained Udhampur and Jammu seats for third terms.
Of the 36 Assembly segments in the two LS seats, the BJP candidates took lead in 29. In three Assembly segments — Gulabargh (ST), Suchetgarh (SC) and RS Pura-Jammu (south) — Congress candidate Raman Bhalla took the lead.
In three other LS seats comprising 54 Assembly segments, NC won two (Srinagar and Anantnag) while independent Er Rashid won Baramulla. BJP did not contest three Valley seats but extended support to Apni Party and PC.
Of the 54 Assembly segments, NC took lead in 34 and PDP in five seats. BJP’s ally PC took lead in one Assembly segment in Baramulla. In the home constituency of J&K BJP chief Ravindra Raina in Nowshera-Rajouri, NC took lead over BJP-backed Apni Party candidate.
The LS polls were the first major electoral exercise in J&K after repeal of Article 370 and bifurcation of the state into two UTs on August 5, 2019.
A BJP leader said parliamentary polls cannot be linked with Assembly polls. “We had contested only two out of five seats. It will be a different ball game in Assembly polls. The parties will be contesting against one another. We will be able to reach the magical figure of 46 on our own,” he said.