The Kashmir Pulse

SRINAGAR — In a decisive electoral mandate, the deposits of nearly 90 per cent of candidates contesting for the five Lok Sabha seats in Jammu and Kashmir were confiscated. According to Election Commission data, 89 out of 100 candidates failed to secure one-sixth of the votes polled in their respective constituencies, leading to the forfeiture of their deposits.

The voters in the Union Territory, as per the news agency KNO, delivered a clear verdict in favour of the winners in all but one constituency.

Notably, Sheikh Abdul Rashid, an independent candidate who emerged victorious in the Baramulla seat, defeated high-profile politicians such as former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and People's Conference President Sajjad Gani Lone. Rashid secured 45.70 per cent of the votes, making Baramulla the only constituency where the winning candidate received less than 50 per cent of the total votes.

Baramulla was also the only constituency where the third-placed candidate, Sajjad Gani Lone, managed to save his deposit by securing 16.76 per cent of the votes, just above the 16.34 per cent threshold required.

In other constituencies, National Conference leader Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi achieved the highest vote share with 52.85 per cent.

BJP's Jugal Kishore, who won the Jammu seat for the third consecutive time, received 52.80 per cent of the votes. Union Minister and BJP leader Jitendra Singh, who also secured a third consecutive victory in Udhampur, garnered 51.28 per cent of the votes.

Meanwhile, NC's Mian Altaf Ahmed defeated former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti in the Anantnag-Rajouri seat with 50.85 per cent of the votes.

The elections were particularly disappointing for Ghulam Nabi Azad's Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP), whose all three candidates forfeited their deposits. None of the DPAP candidates managed to secure even four per cent of the votes.

Ghulam Mohammad Saroori, contesting from Udhampur, received 3.56 per cent, Mohammad Salim Parre from Anantnag-Rajouri got 2.49 per cent, and Aamir Bhat from Srinagar secured 2.24 per cent.

Among the seven women candidates in the fray, only PDP President Mehbooba Mufti succeeded in saving her deposit.

This post first appeared on The Kashmir Pulse

NEW DELHI — After winning the Lok Sabha elections from northern Kashmir's Baramulla constituency, the incarcerated former Assembly Member Engineer Rashid has approached Delhi's Patiala House Court, seeking interim bail to take oath as a Member of Parliament.

Er Rashid is currently lodged at Delhi’s Tihar Jail and he is accused of militancy funding.

Additional Sessions Judge of Patiala House Court, Chander Jeet Singh, as per the news agency KNT, has sought a response from the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Engineer Rashid's bail plea. The court will next hear the case on Friday.

Engineer Rashid emerged victorious from the Baramulla parliamentary seat, defeating his rivals including the former Jammu Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, Peoples Conference Chairman Sajjad Gani Lone and PDP’s Fayaz Mir.

This post first appeared on The Kashmir Pulse

NEW DELHI — Two candidates currently lodged in prison on terror charges emerged winners in the just-concluded parliamentary election, giving rise to an unusual situation for the 18th Lok Sabha to be formed in the coming days.

While the law will keep them from attending the proceedings of the new House, they do have the constitutional right to take oath as Members of Parliament.

The Election Commission declared the results of the Lok Sabha polls on Tuesday. While radical Sikh preacher Amritpal Singh won Punjab’s Khadoor Sahib seat, terror financing accused Sheikh Abdul Rashid, popularly known as Engineer Rashid, won from Jammu and Kashmir’s Baramulla seat.

Engineer Rashid has been lodged in Tihar jail since August 9, 2019, on terror funding charges. Amritpal Singh was arrested in April 2023 under the National Security Act and sent to Assam’s Dibrugarh prison.

The question now arises if these jailed newly-elected MPs will be allowed to take the oath, and if yes, how.

Explaining the legalities involved, Constitution expert and former Lok Sabha secretary general PDT Achari stressed the importance of following the constitutional provisions in such cases.

Being sworn in as a Member of Parliament is a constitutional right, he said. But because they are currently in prison, Engineer Rashid and Singh must seek permission from authorities to be escorted to Parliament for the oath ceremony. Once they have taken the oath, they will have to return to prison.

To further explain the legalities, Achari cited Article 101(4) of the Constitution which deals with the absence of members from both Houses of Parliament without prior sanction of the Chair.

He said that after they have taken the oath, they will write to the Speaker, informing about their inability to attend the House. The Speaker will then refer their requests to the House Committee on Absence of Members.

The committee will recommend whether the member should be allowed to remain absent from House proceedings. The recommendation is then put to vote in the House by the Speaker.

If Engineer Rashid or Singh are to be convicted and jailed for a minimum of two years, they would lose their seats in the Lok Sabha immediately as per the Supreme Court judgment of 2013, which holds that MPs and MLAs would be disqualified in such cases.

This decision struck down section 8(4) of the Representation of the People Act, which earlier allowed convicted MPs and MLAs three months to appeal against their convictions.

This post first appeared on The Kashmir Pulse

SRINAGAR — In their first major electoral battle, the candidates fielded by new parties launched in Jammu & Kashmir have lost their security deposit.

All the candidates fielded by Jammu & Kashmir Apni Party (JKAP) and Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) have forfeited their security deposit in the Lok Sabha polls, the results of which were declared on Tuesday.

According to the details available with the news agency KNO, Muhammad Ashraf Mir and Zaffar Iqbal Manhas of JKAP have lost their security deposit as they failed to secure a minimum of one-sixth of the total valid votes polled in their respective constituencies.

While Mir polled 9.77 per cent of the total votes cast in the Srinagar Lok Sabha seat, Manhas secured 13.86 per cent of the total votes polled in Anantnag-Rajouri segment.

According to details, GM Saroori fielded by DPAP forfeited his security deposit as he managed to secure only 3.56 per cent of the total votes polled in the Udhampur Lok Sabha seat.

Two other candidates fielded by Ghulam Nabi Azad-led party also lost security deposit in their respective constituencies.

While Muhammad Saleem Parrey secured a meagre 2.47 per cent of the total votes polled in the Anantnag-Rajouri seat, Amir Ahmad Bhat polled only 2.24 per cent of votes polled in the Srinagar Lok Sabha seat.

Interestingly, PDP candidate for the Baramulla Lok Sabha seat, Mir Muhammad Fayaz also lost his security deposit.

As per the Election Commission of India, Mir polled only 2.66 per cent of votes polled in the Baramulla Lok Sabha seat.

This post first appeared on The Kashmir Pulse

SRINAGAR — The Lok Sabha election results in Kashmir have sprung a few surprises as former chief ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti were humbled at the hustings by lesser-known candidates.

While Mufti lost to Gujjar leader and National Conference candidate Mian Altaf Ahmad by a huge margin in the Anantnag-Rajouri seat, Abdullah was defeated by former MLA and militancy financing accused Sheikh Abdul Rashid alias Engineer Rashid in Baramulla.

Also to fall by the wayside was People’s Conference president Sajjad Gani Lone in the Baramulla seat in northern Kashmir.

Rashid, a 56-year-old former MLA from the Langate assembly segment in Kupwara district, was arrested in 2019 and charged by the NIA under UAPA. He was the first mainstream politician to be booked under the anti-terror law. His campaign was run by his son Abrar, who thanked people for their “love and support”.

“I am thankful to people who not only supported our campaign but showered their love and converted it into votes as well. Winning or losing doesn’t matter much to us. What matters to me is the love we got from the people,” Abrar told reporters after his father took a substantial lead.

Abdullah conceded defeat and congratulated Rashid on his victory. “I think it’s time to accept the inevitable. Congratulations to Engineer Rashid for his victory in North Kashmir,” Abdullah said in a post on ‘X’.

He said voters have spoken and in a democracy, that is all that matters. “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,” Abdullah said.

Lone also conceded defeat and congratulated Rashid. “With all humility at my command I accept defeat. And it is time to congratulate Engineer Rashid. I wanted to make a difference. I thought we should be empowered economically, socially and politically to be able to make a difference and be counted. We had suffered a lot in the past 30 yrs and been robbed of all our dignity. The people’s mandate is supreme. I accept the people’s mandate with all humility,” Lone posted on ‘X’.

Another key player in Jammu and Kashmir politics, Mehbooba Mufti said winning and losing are part of the game.

“Respecting the verdict of the people I thank my PDP workers & leaders for their hard work & support despite all the odds. My deepest gratitude to the people who voted for me. Winning & losing is part of the game & won’t deter us from our path,” she posted on X.

Her daughter Iltija Mufti said she accepted the “verdict of the people” and thanked the PDP workers and voters.

“We accept the verdict of the people. My deepest gratitude to PDP workers & leaders for their hard work & the people who voted for Mehbooba ji. Our journey of rebuilding PDP has only begun & Inshallah we will fulfil Mufti sahab’s vision. And Mum I love you & will always have your back,” she posted on ‘X’.

In the prestigious Srinagar Lok Sabha seat, National Conference leader Aga Roohullah Mehdi defeated rival candidate and PDP youth president Waheed Para.

“I thank the people for the mandate. I want to tell them that their mandate will be respected and they will be represented in Parliament in the way for which they have given their mandate,” Roohullah told reporters at the counting centre here.

The influential Shia leader congratulated Engineer Rashid on his victory.

“I also wanted to congratulate Omar Abdullah, but as per the trend, it seems the people have decided otherwise. I hope that they get what they voted for, the release of Engineer sahab. I want to congratulate Engineer Rashid and his family and respect this mandate,” he said.

Roohullah said he will raise the abrogation of Article 370 in Parliament.

“I will raise the issue of what was snatched from us and that we do not accept the decisions taken on August 5, 2019. I will vociferously take their voice to Parliament and seek its restoration. This mandate increases my responsibility,” he added.

Para said people of Kashmir have spoken for the first time in years.

Apni Party founder Altaf Bukhari said the results in Kashmir have signalled an end to dynastic rule here.

“The people of Jammu and Kashmir have spoken, and their verdict is clear. With grace and humility, we accept the outcome of the election. The rejection of dynastic politics and the defeat of the former two chief ministers of J&K is a resounding message, and we acknowledge the desire for change,” Bukhari said.

He said his party will use this opportunity to introspect, learn from its mistakes and emerge stronger and more resilient.

“We respect the democratic process and the will of the people, and we look forward to a fresh start. May this new chapter bring prosperity, peace and progress to Jammu and Kashmir,” he added.

This post first appeared on The Kashmir Pulse

LEH — Independent candidate Mohmad Haneefa has established a lead of over 28,000 votes over his nearest Congress rival from the Ladakh Lok Sabha constituency, according to the Election Commission trends.

Haneefa has got 60,365 votes so far as against Congress candidate Tsering Namgyal who got 32,195 votes and BJP’s Tashi Gyalson who bagged 24,953 votes.

The BJP won the seat in the 2014 general elections and retained it in 2019. The Congress has won the seat the maximum number of times — six.

Haneefa, a former National Conference leader, quit the party along with its entire Kargil unit to contest as an Independent, after the Congress fielded Namgyal as the INDIA bloc candidate. He is the lone candidate from the Shia Muslim-dominated Kargil region.

This is the first major electoral battle in the region after it was carved out of Jammu and Kashmir and granted Union territory status in 2019.

This post first appeared on The Kashmir Pulse

SRINAGAR — National Conference (NC) Vice President Omar Abdullah and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti conceded defeat on Tuesday from their respective Lok Sabha seats even as counting of votes was still underway.

According to the ECI data for the Baramulla Lok Sabha seat, jailed former MLA Sheikh Abdul Rashid was leading against former chief minister Abdullah by a margin of more than 1.25 lakh votes.

“I think it’s time to accept the inevitable. Congratulations to Engineer Rashid for his victory in North Kashmir,” Abdullah said in a post on X at 1:37 pm. He said the voters have spoken and in a democracy that is all that matters.

“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,” Abdullah said.

Former chief minister Mufti also conceded defeat from the Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha seat.

“Respecting the verdict of the people, I thank my PDP workers & leaders for their hard work & support despite all the odds. My deepest gratitude to the people who voted for me. Winning & losing is part of the game & won't deter us from our path,” Mufti posted on X at 1:58 pm.

National Conference Gujjar leader Mian Altaf is leading from the seat by over 2.29 lakh votes, according to the latest EC figures.

Abdullah also congratulated his party colleagues Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi and Mian Altaf who are leading by huge margins from Srinagar and Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha seats respectively.

“To my @JKNC_ colleagues @RuhullahMehdi & Mian Altaf Sb my heartfelt congratulations. I’m sorry I won’t be joining them in the Lok Sabha but I’m sure both of them will do an amazing job representing the people of J&K,” Abdullah said in his post.

This post first appeared on The Kashmir Pulse

SRINAGAR — In the early hours of vote counting for the Lok Sabha elections, Abdul Rashid Sheikh, an independent candidate who is popularly known as Engineer Rashid, has taken a significant lead in the Baramulla constituency, while the National Conference (JKNC) is ahead in both the Srinagar and Anantnag-Rajouri seats, according to the latest data of Election Commission available at 11:10 am.

In the Baramulla seat, Er Rashid is leading with 101,701 votes, outpacing JKNC vice-president Omar Abdullah, who trails with 53,820 votes, and Sajjad Gani Lone of the Jammu & Kashmir People’s Conference, who has 42,428 votes.

In the Srinagar constituency, JKNC's Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi is leading with 105,994 votes. He holds a substantial margin over Waheed-Ur-Rehman Para of the JKPDP, who has garnered 46,069 votes, and Mohammad Ashraf Mir of the JKAP, who is trailing with 22,327 votes.

The Anantnag-Rajouri seat shows a strong lead for JKNC’s Mian Altaf Ahmad with 203,795 votes, far ahead of JKPDP president Mehbooba Mufti, who has received 90,508 votes. Zafar Iqbal Khan Manhas of JKAP trails significantly with 43,522 votes.

These early trends indicate a strong performance for the National Conference in the Kashmir Division, while independent candidate Abdul Rashid Sheikh's lead in Baramulla is a notable development in the ongoing elections.

This post first appeared on The Kashmir Pulse

NEW DELHI — The BJP-led NDA on Tuesday was ahead with leads in 227 parliamentary seats out of 392 for which trends were available, with the opposition INDIA bloc ahead in at least 137, Election Commission data showed.

BJP alone was leading on 187 seats and won Surat uncontested, while Congress was ahead in 70 seats at 9:45 am.

Union Minister Smriti Irani was trailing in Amethi and former Union Minister Maneka Gandhi in Sultanpur. Union Minister Nitin Gadkari was leading with a slender margin in Nagpur.

Counting of votes for the Lok Sabha elections has begun across states and Union Territories, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said.

According to the Conduct of Election Rules, postal ballots were taken up for counting first and the process of counting of votes recorded in electronic voting machines (EVMs) began 30 minutes later. The process of counting votes cast through postal ballots and EVMs will continue simultaneously.

While the Lok Sabha has 543 members, counting is being held for 542 seats after the BJP’s Surat candidate Mukesh Dalal was elected unopposed.

Counting of votes is also underway for the assembly polls in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha, where polling was held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha elections.

Elections to the assemblies of Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim were also held alongside the Lok Sabha polls. The results of these elections were declared on June 2.

Since 2019, VVPAT (voter-verifiable paper audit trail) slips from five randomly selected polling stations per assembly constituency — or segment in the case of Lok Sabha seats — are matched with the EVM count for greater transparency.

This post first appeared on The Kashmir Pulse

SRINAGAR — As the counting of votes for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls is underway, the National Conference (NC) and Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) are ahead in two seats each in Jammu and Kashmir, according to early result trends.

According to data released by the Chief Election Officer J&K, the NC is leading in Srinagar and Anantnag-Rajouri seats, while the BJP is leading in Jammu and Udhampur seats.

The data shows that independent candidate Er Rashid is leading in the Baramulla constituency against National Conference vice-president Omar Abdullah, while People’s Conference chairman Sajjad Lone is in the third spot.

Main Altaf of NC is leading against People’s Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti in Anantnag-Rajouri, while NC’s Aga Ruhullah is leading against PDP’s Waheed Para.

Union minister Dr Jitendra Singh is leading against Congress’ Choudhary Lal Singh in Jammu, while Jugal Kishar of BJP is leading against Raman Bhalla of Congress in Jammu constituency.

This post first appeared on The Kashmir Pulse

SRINAGAR — Two former chief ministers of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir — Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti — are trailing in their constituencies in the first hour of counting on Tuesday, according to the Election Commission.

Abdullah contested the polls from the Baramulla Lok Sabha constituency, while Mehbooba from the Anantnag-Rajouri seat.

Abdullah, the vice president of the National Conference (NC), is trailing by over 2,600 votes in the first hour of counting against his nearest rival and independent candidate Sheikh Abdul Rashid.

The NC leader is locked in a virtual triangular contest for the Baramulla Lok Sabha seat with separatist-turned-mainstream politician Sajjad Gani Lone and Rashid alias Engineer Rashid, a former MLA currently lodged in Tihar jail in a UAPA case.

Mehbooba, the president of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), who is up against prominent Gujjar and NC leader Mian Altaf Ahmad in Anantnag-Rajouri seat, is trailing by over 26,000 votes.

On the third seat in the Kashmir valley — the Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency — NC’s Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi is leading over his nearest rival, PDP’s Waheed Para — by over 3,300 votes.

This post first appeared on The Kashmir Pulse

SRINAGAR — Finally the big day has arrived as the counting of votes has started today (Tuesday) for the five crucial Lok Sabha seats of Jammu and Kashmir amid multi-layer security cover.

The Election Commission has established 10 counting centres for the five Lok Sabha seats in J&K with one of these centres set up in Delhi to count the votes of Kashmiri migrants living outside Kashmir. The counting of votes for five J&K LS seats has begun simultaneously with the rest of the country.

Early results for Ladakh and Udhampur

As per the local news agency KNO, among the six Lok Sabha seats of Jammu, Kashmir, and Ladakh, the results for Udhampur and Ladakh are expected first. The results for the remaining four seats—Jammu, Anantnag-Rajouri, Srinagar, and Baramulla—will take longer due to the high number of candidates, which has necessitated the use of two EVMs for each seat.

Key candidates await results

The fate of over 100 candidates, including prominent figures like Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh, former chief ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, will be decided on June 4.

Other notable candidates include former minister Chaudhary Lal Singh, MP Jugal Kishore Sharma, Congress working president Raman Bhalla, veteran NC leaders Mian Altaf and Ruhullah Mehdi, Apni Party's Zafar Iqbal Manhas and Mohammad Ashraf Mir, People's Conference chief Sajjad Gani Lone, and Awami Ittehad Party chief Engineer Rashid.

In Ladakh, the results will determine the fate of BJP's Tashi Gyalsan, Congress's T Namgyal, and independent Haji Hanifa Jaan.

Security and preparations for counting

Section 144 has been imposed outside the counting centers, which will remain in effect until June 5. The district administration has issued I-cards to personnel on counting duty, and around 1,000 agents have been given access cards. Approximately 2,000 to 2,500 personnel have been deployed for vote counting.

A meeting was held between District Deputy Commissioner Sachin Kumar and the election candidates and their agents to ensure smooth vote counting as the counting will be held at SKICC Srinagar.

For Baramulla seat, the counting is being held in Degree College Baramulla. On the other hand, the counting of votes for the Anantnag-Rajouri seat is being held in Degree College Anantnag.

For Jammu parliamentary seat, the vote counting is taking place at MAM College Jammu and Polytechnic Vikram Chowk.

Talking to reporters in Jammu on Saturday, Director General of Police (DGP) RR Swain had said that each counting centre is under the 24x7 surveillance of the CCTVs while there are at least two companies of security forces deployed for securing the counting centre.

The DGP had stated that there will be multi-layer security cover at every counting centre.

Strategies by political parties

Political parties, particularly BJP and Congress, have strategized with their booth agents for the vote counting on Tuesday. Agents were expected to report at 6:00 am, accompanied by a large number of supporters outside.

Security at the strong room

A tight security cordon surrounds the strong room at Polytechnic College Jammu, where the vote counting for the Jammu parliamentary seat is taking place. Police officers are personally monitoring the strong room, with extensive security measures implemented within a 200-meter radius of the counting center.

Exit Poll predictions

Exit polls indicate that the BJP is likely to secure two seats in Udhampur and Jammu, while NC is projected to win three seats in Anantnag, Srinagar, and Baramulla. All parties have finalized their preparations for vote counting, and agents have been briefed on necessary protocols.

This post first appeared on The Kashmir Pulse