BJP secures record 29 seats in J&K but loses all ST seats despite reservation push
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In a historic outcome, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secured its highest-ever tally in Jammu & Kashmir, winning 29 seats, all from the Jammu region. This strong performance marks the party’s continued dominance in districts such as Jammu, Kathua, Samba, Udhampur, and Reasi. The BJP’s complete sweep of the Jammu region’s Scheduled Caste (SC) reserved seats is a notable achievement, with the party winning all seven SC-reserved constituencies.
The BJP claimed 10 out of the 11 seats in Jammu district, five out of six in Kathua, and swept all four seats in Udhampur and all three in Samba districts. Additionally, the party secured two out of three seats in Reasi, Doda, and Kishtwar districts. However, it failed to win any seats in Ramban and Poonch districts.
However, despite the Modi government’s significant policy shift granting 10% reservation to Paharis and reserving nine seats for Scheduled Tribes (STs) in the newly restructured assembly, the BJP suffered a major setback in the Pir Panjal region, where it failed to win any of the six ST-reserved seats in Jammu division. The NC claimed four of these constituencies, while Congress and an Independent secured one each.
The National Conference (NC) emerged as the dominant force in the assembly elections, winning 42 seats, including 35 from the Kashmir Valley and 7 from Jammu region. The Congress, an ally of the NC, added six seats to the alliance’s total. While the PDP managed to secure only three seats, this marks its worst-ever performance in J&K, a significant decline from its earlier successes.
BJP got 25.64 per cent vote share followed by the National Conference with 23.43 per cent and Congress with 11.97 per cent. NC leader Omar Abdullah is poised to be the next Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir.