On Tuesday, two prominent candidates from the National Conference made history by winning their seats in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly for an unprecedented seventh term.
Abdul Rahim Rather, a senior leader and former finance minister, emerged victorious from the Chrar-i-Sharief constituency in central Budgam district. Rather has a long-standing political career, having represented this area from 1977 to 2014, with his only electoral defeat occurring in the 2014 elections against the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) leader Ghulam Nabi Lone Hanjura. This time, Rather triumphed over Hanjura with a significant margin of 11,496 votes, according to GNS data.
His party colleague, Ali Mohammad Sagar, also clinched his seventh consecutive term, maintaining his undefeated streak. Sagar received 14,906 votes, defeating independent candidate Sheikh Imran, who garnered just 4,994 votes, by a margin of 9,912 votes. Sagar, now in his sixties, began his assembly journey at 25, initially winning from the Batamaloo seat and later transitioning to Khanyar in 1996, where he has remained a successful MLA for five terms.
Several other candidates achieved significant milestones as well, with many securing their sixth and fifth terms. Notably, Mubarak Gul, a National Conference leader and former speaker, won his sixth term representing the Eidgah constituency in Srinagar. He received 7,700 votes, defeating independent candidate Ghulam Nabi Bhat by 1,680 votes, while PDP’s Mohammad Khursheed Alam trailed with only 3,302 votes.
CPI(M) leader Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami also made a mark, winning his fifth consecutive term from the Kulgam seat in south Kashmir by defeating independent candidate Sayar Ahmad Reshi with a margin of 7,838 votes. Tarigami received 33,634 votes, while Reshi garnered 25,796 in his first assembly contest, and PDP’s candidate came in third.
In a surprising turn, PDP’s Abdul Rehman Bhat, who had previously held the Bijbehara seat four times, lost to National Conference’s Reyaz Ahmad Khan in the Shangus Anantnag East constituency. Khan secured 30,345 votes, defeating Bhat by 14,532 votes.
The recent Assembly elections saw a significant political shift, with 34 former ministers in Jammu and Kashmir losing their seats, many to first-time candidates. This election marks the first since the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019, paving the way for an elected government in the region for the first time in a decade.
The National Conference emerged as the dominant party, winning 42 of the 90 seats, followed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with 29 seats, Congress with 6, and the Jammu and Kashmir People’s Democratic Party (JKPDP) securing only 3.
Among the notable political figures who were defeated are Vikar Rasool, former Minister for Tourism and Housing; Muzaffar Beigh, former Deputy Chief Minister; and Altaf Bukhari, former Finance Minister and founder of the Apni Party. Others on the list include Harsh Dev Singh, Lal Singh, Ghulam Nabi Lone, and Hakeem Mohammad Yaseen.
The elections, conducted in three phases during September and October, saw participation from 873 candidates across 90 constituencies, including 47 seats in Kashmir and 43 in Jammu. This political upheaval heralds new leadership for the Union Territory.
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