The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secured victories in both parliamentary seats in Jammu province, while the National Conference’s Aga Rahullah triumphed in the Srinagar parliamentary seat.Although official results for Baramulla and Anantnag-Rajouri were not announced by late evening, it was evident from the final counting rounds that Engineer Rashid was leading in Baramulla and the National Conference’s Mian Altaf in Anantnag-Rajouri.Notably, former chief ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti suffered defeats in their respective Lok Sabha constituencies in Kashmir.
Kashmir Valley comprises three Lok Sabha constituencies. National Conference leaders Aga Ruhullah and Mian Altaf won the Srinagar (Central Kashmir) and Anantnag (South Kashmir) constituencies, respectively. Engineer Rashid, currently imprisoned, won the Baramulla (North Kashmir) constituency. This marked the first parliamentary contest for both Mian Altaf and Aga Ruhullah, while Engineer Rashid had previously run unsuccessfully in 2019.
Engineer Rashid defeated Omar Abdullah in Baramulla with a significant margin. In Anantnag, Mehbooba Mufti faced a significant defeat, despite the area being a traditional stronghold for her party, the PDP.
Following his defeat, Omar Abdullah acknowledged the outcome: “I think it’s time to accept the inevitable. Congratulations to Engineer Rashid for his victory in North Kashmir. I don’t believe his victory will hasten his release from prison nor will the people of North Kashmir get the representation they have a right to, but the voters have spoken, and in a democracy, that’s all that matters.”
Similarly, Mehbooba Mufti respected the people’s verdict: “I thank my PDP workers and leaders for their hard work and support despite all the odds. My deepest gratitude to the people who voted for me. Winning and losing is part of the game and won’t deter us from our path. Congratulations to Mian Altaf for his victory.”
Reflecting on past elections, in the 1989 parliamentary polls, National Conference’s PL Handoo won the Anantnag Lok Sabha seat. The 1991 polls were held nationwide but not in Kashmir due to the volatile situation, leading to deferred elections for these seats. In the 1996 elections, Janta Dal’s Muhammad Maqbool Dar won the constituency. Mufti Muhammad Sayeed secured the south Kashmir seat in 1998 on a Congress ticket, with about 28 percent voter turnout. In 1999, the National Conference’s Ali Muhammad Naik won the seat, with voter turnout below 20 percent. This election followed National Conference leader Saifuddin Soz’s defiance of the party whip against the BJP-led coalition government during a confidence motion, after which he joined Congress.
Meanwhile, the BJP maintained its dominance in Jammu, winning its third consecutive term. Of the five Lok Sabha seats in the union territory, BJP’s Jugal Kishore Sharma and Jitendra Singh, MoS PMO, retained their seats for the third term. The BJP did not announce candidates in Kashmir.
The Farooq Abdullah-led National Conference, part of the INDIA bloc, fielded candidates in three Valley seats, winning two. This was the first major election in the region after the abrogation of Article 370, which granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir.
Omar Abdullah, running from North Kashmir’s Baramulla seat, was defeated by jailed leader and two-time MLA Engineer Rashid, an independent candidate. With Rashid in jail, his sons Abrar and Asrar spearheaded his campaign, attracting large crowds in the bordering region. Baramulla was a closely watched seat, with People Conference president Sajad Lone also in the race. According to Election Commission of India data, Rashid was leading with over 200,000 votes. The Mehbooba Mufti-led PDP also fielded a candidate in Baramulla, but he did not emerge as a main challenger.
Though the PDP did not win any seats, it was part of the INDIA bloc. Mehbooba Mufti aimed to contest from Anantnag-Rajouri, but Omar Abdullah fielded tribal leader Mian Altaf, who won. Following the National Conference’s refusal to collaborate, the PDP fielded candidates in all three Valley seats and supported Congress candidates in Jammu.
The lone Lok Sabha seat in Ladakh was won by independent candidate Haji Hanifa from Kargil, with a margin of over 27,000 votes. In Ladakh, the BJP replaced incumbent MP Jamyang Tsering Namgyal with Tashi Gyalson.
