PDP bags all 3 seats in Valley, BJP 3 in Jammu-Ladakh;
Whitewash for coalition candidates
Srinagar: The Lok Sabha 2014 polls delivered a surprising and an unexpected verdict especially in Jammu and Kashmir with opposition PDP and BJP sweeping over performance of coalition candidates in all six constituencies of the state. The While the PDP won all three seats in Kashmir valley defeating three candidates of National Conference, BJP swept the polls in Jammu and Ladakh bagging rest of the three seats in the state.
Tariq Hamid Karra, the PDP candidate from Srinagar-Budgam Lok Sabah constituency, defeated the former Chief Minister and National Conference president, Farooq Abdullah with a margin of 42,280 votes. The NC has for the first time lost its Srinagar stronghold in the Valley. Karra bagged 1,57,923 votes while his rival Dr Abdullah got 1,15,643 votes after 25 rounds of counting.
Similarly, in Baramulla-Kupwara, PDP’s candidate Muzaffar Hussain Baig defeated NC’s incumbent Shariefuddin Shariq with a margin of 29,219 votes. Baig got 1,75,277 against Shariq’s 1,46,058 votes. In this north Kashmir Parliamentary constituency Peoples Conference candidate Salam-ud-din Bajad got 71,154 votes while as MLA Langate Er Sheikh Abdul Rashid secured 22,090 votes.
Mehbooba Mufti, who was PDP candidate from Anantnag-Pulwama, NC’s incumbent Mehboob Beg with a margin of 44,735 votes. While Mehbooba got 1,42,237 and Beg bagged 97,502 votes.
In Leh-Kargil, BJP’s Thustan Chhewand defeated independent candidate Ghulam Raza with a margin of 36 votes. Chhewang got 31,111 and Raza, who was sponsored by Kargil’s influential Shia outfit Imam Khomeini Trust, 31,075 votes.
In Jammu-Poonch, BJP’s MLA Jugal Kishore Sharma, who got the State’s maximum of 6,19,995 votes, defeated Congress party’s incumbent Madan Lal Sharma with a huge margin of 2,56,950 votes. Sharma got 3,62,715. PDP’s Yashpal Sharma stood third with 1,68, 554 votes.
In Udhampur-Doda, BJP’s debutant Dr Jitendra Singh defeated Congress party’s high profile candidate and Union Cabinet Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad with a margin of 60,976 votes. While as Dr Singh polled 4,87,369 votes, Azad trailed with 4,26,393. PDP’s Arshid Malik got 30,461 and the National Panthers Party candidate Prof Bhim Singh just 25,312 votes.