NC reclaims south Kashmir, bags 10 seats

Anantnag, Oct 8: After years of being overshadowed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in south Kashmir, the National Conference (NC) has made a significant comeback in the region.

The region, a stronghold of the PDP, saw NC secure 10 of the 12 seats it contested in the 2024 assembly elections.

In the 2014 elections, NC had won 15 seats overall but managed to claim only three in south Kashmir’s four districts - Anantnag, Kulgam, Pulwama, and Shopian.

This time, NC's victory in 10 constituencies signals a dramatic shift in the political landscape of the region.

One of the two seats NC lost was in Shopian, where NC rebel Shabir Ahmad Kullay, running as an independent after being denied a party ticket in favour of Sheikh Muhammad Rafi, defeated Rafi by over 1000 votes.

In Tral, another NC rebel, Ghulam Nabi Bhat, a former NC legislator and the winner of the 2002 elections, ran as an independent and secured 9654 votes, finishing third.

PDP’s Rafiq Ahmad Malik narrowly won that seat, defeating NC’s Surinder Singh Channi.

Khalil Muhammad Bandh, the NC candidate from Pulwama, suffered a significant defeat, losing by over 8000 votes to PDP’s youth leader, Waheed-ur-Rehman Parra.

Of the remaining seats in south Kashmir, three went to NC’s alliance partners - the Congress and the CPI (M) - while one was claimed by an independent candidate.

PDP had to remain content with only two seats.

NC had been struggling in south Kashmir ever since the 2002 elections, managing to win only three seats.

In the 2008 elections, despite forming a government through a post-poll alliance with Congress, the party’s fortunes in south Kashmir worsened, winning just one seat.

However, this victory marks a turning point for NC.

The rise of the PDP in the early 2000s, just three years after it was founded by Mufti Muhammad Sayeed in 1999, was largely credited to its strong performance in south Kashmir, where it secured 10 of its 16 seats.

In 2008, the party won 12 seats, followed by 11 in 2014.

However, in the 2024 elections, PDP’s influence has dwindled, winning only two seats in south Kashmir and three overall.

“After 10 years of alliance with the BJP to form the government in 2014, the PDP is now struggling to retain its hold, particularly in south Kashmir,” a political observer said.

The signs of disillusionment with the PDP were evident as early as the 2019 Lok Sabha elections when PDP President Mehbooba Mufti lost her first election from south Kashmir to NC’s Hasnain Masoodi.

In the most recent Lok Sabha polls, Mufti suffered another defeat in the newly-created Anantnag-Rajouri seat to NC’s Mian Altaf Ahmad.

NC's resurgence in south Kashmir, where it was once nearly wiped out, raises questions about whether the PDP will be able to regain its lost ground in the future.