SRINAGAR: No clear winner emerged from state elections in Indian-ruled Jammu and Kashmir and the restive state yesterday headed for another coalition government, officials said.
The elections, which began on Nov. 17 and ended on Wednesday, were held in seven phases. The main opposition National Conference and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) started wooing the Congress party after emerging as the biggest two parties in elections that gave the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) its biggest-ever tally of 11 seats. The NC got 28 seats, PDP 21 and the Congress was declared winner on 17 seats in a 87-seat assembly.
All key players in the state — former chief ministers Ghulam Nabi Azad, Farooq Abdullah and Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti — won their seats.
The right-wing BJP sprung a surprise by taking its number to 11 from just one in the last elections held in 2002. After retaining all 28 seats it won in the 2002 elections, an overwhelmed NC leader Farooq Abdullah said he was ready to shake hands with the Congress to give the troubled state its second but a new coalition government.
Farooq Abdullah, who has held the state’s reins three times, gave enough hints that his son Omar Abdullah could be the new chief minister in the event of a NC-Congress alliance.
At the same time, former Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed’s PDP, which increased its tally mainly in the Kashmir Valley from 16 to 21, also indicated that it was ready to do business again with the Congress — despite having brought down the Congress-led government only months ago.
The Congress has not opened its cards beyond saying that any new coalition arrangement in Kashmir, will be decided by its chief Sonia Gandhi. As NC supporters celebrated mainly in the Valley, BJP workers were ecstatic in the Hindu dominated Jammu region where it won all 11 seats. The BJP had benefited enormously from the Muslim-Hindu polarization that gripped the state in July-August over the Amarnath shrine land row.
“We will be the nationalist opposition in the assembly,” declared BJP General Secretary Arun Jaitley, ruling out any cooperation with either the NC or PDP. The NC and PDP also announced they would not team up with the BJP, implicitly giving the Congress the kingmaker’s role.
“We will approach the Congress formally for an alliance and after that we will stake claim to power in the state tomorrow,” Omar Abdullah told reporters.
Omar’s father and party patron Farooq Abdullah hinted he would like to continue as the Rajya Sabha (upper house) member, a move expected to clear the decks for his son to become the chief minister.
Omar Abdullah avenged his 2002 defeat in Ganderbal in north Kashmir, defeating the very same PDP nominee who had humiliated him six years ago. His father won from both Hazratbal and Sonawar in Srinagar, the urban hub of the separatist campaign.
Mufti Sayeed made it to the assembly from Anantnag in south Kashmir. His daughter Mehbooba won from Wachi, also in south Kashmir.
Azad retained his Bhaderwah seat in the Muslim-majority mountainous area of Doda. A disappointed Azad did not hide his unhappiness over the BJP’s huge gains. He blamed it on communal polarization.
“It does worry me. (It is an) outcome of the unfortunate things that happened in July-August,” said the Congress leader, referring to the Amarnath land controversy.
