Lok Sabha poll verdict 2024: Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti handed over crushing defeat by their rival candidates

Omar and Mehbooba both lost their seats by a huge margin of over 2 lakh votes in their respective constituencies

The defeat of Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti

Two former chief ministers of Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti Tuesday tasted defeat in the Lok Sabha polls, held for the first time after the Abrogation of Article 370 on August 5, 2019.

The common voter delivered a decisive mandate as both these candidates lost their seats by a huge margin of over 2 lakh votes in their respective constituencies.

Two other candidates of the National Conference won the Lok Sabha polls from the Srinagar and Anantnag parliamentary constituencies the PDP candidates contesting from the Baramulla and Srinagar seats were defeated by their rival candidates by a huge margin.

Interestingly, the entire campaign of these two regional players was centered around the idea of restoring the special status of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir as it stood before the same was bifurcated into two union territories of Jammu, Kashmir, and Ladakh.

Omar was defeated by an Independent candidate Abdul Rashid Sheikh, currently lodged in Tihar jail from the Baramulla Lok Sabha seat. On the other hand, Mehbooba Mufti was handed a crushing defeat by the JKNC candidate Mian Altaf Ahmad from the Anantnag-Rajouri Parliamentary constituency.

In the Jammu region, the ruling Bharatiya Janta Party won the Jammu and Udhampur Lok Sabha seats.

Independent Candidate Haji Haneefa Jan, district Chief of JKNC in Kargil, won the Ladakh Parliamentary Constituency seat by defeating INC candidate Tsering Namgyal. BJP candidate Tashi Gyalson stood third in the tally of total votes polled.

According to the details made available on the website of the Election Commission of India, Abdul Rashid Sheikh defeated Omar Abdullah by over 2.04 lakh votes from the Baramulla Lok Sabha constituency.

Abdul Rashid Sheikh secured 472481 votes while Omar Abdullah garnered 268339 votes from the North Kashmir seat. Chairman of the Peoples Conference Sajad Gani Lone secured third position garnering 173239 votes. PDP candidate Fayaz Mir polled 27488 votes.

Mian Altaf Ahmad of the National Conference, handed over a crushing defeat to PDP Chief Mehbooba Mufti by a margin of over 2.79 lakh votes from the Anantnag-Rajouri parliamentary constituency.

Mian Altaf polled 517489 votes while Mehbooba Mufti polled 238210 votes. JKAPNI party candidate Zaffar Iqbal Manhas supported by the BJP garnered 141316 votes while Democratic Progressive Azad Party candidate Mohd Saleem Parray secured 25440 votes.

In the Jammu division, MoS PMO Dr Jitendra Singh scored a hat-trick from the Udhampur Lok Sabha sea Dr Jitendra Singh defeated Choudhary Lal Singh of the Indian National Congress by a margin of 1.24 lakh votes. Two-time BJP MP from Jammu, Jugal Kishore defeated the working President of the Congress party Raman Bhalla by a margin of over 1.31 lakh votes.

Srinagar JKNC candidate and Shia leader Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi defeated PDP’s WaheedUr Rehman Parra by over 1.86 lakh votes. Mehdi secured 355047 votes while Para garnered 166883 votes.

Accepting people’s verdict Parra in his initial comments while congratulating winning candidates said, Kashmiris have spoken boldly after ‘years of silence’.

Baramulla witnessed a multi-cornered contest after jailed leader and former MLA Sheikh Abdul Rashid, popularly known as Engineer Rashid, joined the fray as an Independent candidate.

In Ladakh, Haji Haneefa Jan secured 65259 votes while his nearest rival candidate Tsering Namgyal garnered 37397 votes and BJP Candidate Tashi Gyalson secured 31956 votes.

Omar conceded defeat

Vice President of the National Conference, Omar Abdullah conceded defeat from North Kashmir’s Baramulla constituency as independent candidate Er Rashid garnered majority votes and consolidated his lead by over 2 lakh votes. Rashid, currently lodged in Tihar jail, was arrested in 2019 after his name cropped up in a case registered by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

Rashid’s son Abrar who ran the campaign for his jailed father thanked voters for their love and support for his father. 23-year-old Abrar Rashid struck an instant chord with the electorate during the campaigning.

Congratulating JKNC candidate Mian Altaf Ahmad PDP Chief Mehbooba Mufti posted on X, “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. Congratulations to Mian Sahab for his victory”.

Sajjad Lone of the Peoples Conference and Mohd Altaf Bukhari conceded defeat and congratulated the winning candidates.

In Jammu, the jubilant BJP workers celebrated the victory of party candidates and distributed sweets.

Note:
1. Text in Blue points to additional data on the topic.
2. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of PGurus.

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