NC, BJP sweeps three seats each in J&K LS polls

SRINAGAR MAY 23 (PTK):  Jammu and Kashmir National Conference wins all three Lok Sabha seats in the Kashmir valley BJP won two seats in Jammu and one in Ladakh.

National Conference president Farooq Abdullah won the Srinagar Lok Sabha seat for a fourth time. National Conference president Farooq Abdullah, expressed hope that the new government at the Centre would do justice with the state and engage in a dialogue with Pakistan to resolve the Kashmir issue.

While Speaking to media at the NC headquarters, Farooq Abdullah thanked party leaders, workers and the people of his constituency for their support.

Abdullah said “I thank NC vice-president Omar (Abdullah), our party leaders and the people of Kashmir, especially the people of Srinagar constituency – all the mothers, sisters, elders and youth for supporting the NC”.

“This Paliament will not be easy. There are several important issues with respect to J-K because we have to fight them on their intention to do away with the Article 370 and 35A. Another issue is that they want to divide the Muslims and Hindus in the country; we have to fight that as well,” the NC chief said.

While another NC candidate Hasnian Masoodi registered victory in Anantnag constituency, his party colleague Akbar Lone won from Baramulla. Masoodi defeated Congress state president Ghulam Ahmad Mir with a margin of over 8000 votes while Lone’s nearest rival Raja Ejaz Ali from the People’s Conference lost the battle in Baramulla by 20000 votes.

Masoodi, a retired high court judge, was leading Mir by 7,600 votes with 18,000 votes to be counted, election officials said.

Mehbooba, who had won the Anantnag seat in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, was at the third spot, 11,700 votes behind Masoodi.

This is only the second electoral defeat for Mehbooba since she joined politics in 1996. She had lost the 1999 Lok Sabha polls from Srinagar to the NC’s Omar Abdullah.

While the BJP’s resounding victory at the national level has cast a shadow over the NC’s victory in Kashmir, the scene outside BJP state headquarters in Jammu was ecstatic. “It is a vote for the development. Also, the surgical strike showed the country a resolve of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” Sat Sharma, former BJP president, said. Party workers were seen distributing sweets and bursting crackers. (PTK)