Jahangeer Ganaie
Srinagar, Oct 8: In a major political shift in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district, candidates from the National Conference (NC) and Indian National Congress (INC) alliance won all seven seats, while the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) failed to secure any seat.
The NC secured five seats and the INC two. The NC seats include Bijbehara-Srigufwara, Pahalgam, Anantnag West, Anantnag East and Kokernag (ST), while the Congress candidates won in Anantnag Main and Dooru.
In Bijbehara, Dr Bashir Ahmad Veeri of the NC received 33,299 votes, defeating his nearest rival, Iltija Mufti, who garnered 23,529 votes, winning by 9,770 votes. This marks the first time since the PDP’s emergence that a candidate from another party has won Bijbehara.
In Anantnag West, NC’s Ab Majeed Bhat Larmi received 25,135 votes, defeating Ab Gaffar Sofi of the PDP, who received 14,700 votes, with a margin of 10,435 votes.
In Anantnag East (Shangus), NC’s Reyaz Ahmad Khan secured 30,345 votes against PDP’s Abdul Rehman Bhat Veeri, who received 15,813 votes, winning by 14,532 votes.
In Pahalgam, NC’s Altaf Ahmad Wani Kaloo garnered 26,210 votes, defeating Rafi Ahmad Mir of the PDP, who received 12,454 votes, with a margin of 13,756 votes.
In Kokernag (ST), NC’s Zaffar Ali Khatana received 17,949 votes, beating his nearest rival, Haroon Rashid Khatana, who secured 11,787 votes, winning by 6,162 votes.
In Anantnag Main, INC’s Peerzada Mohammad Syed received 6,679 votes, defeating PDP’s Mehboob Beigh, who garnered 4,993 votes, with a margin of 1,686 votes.
In Dooru, INC’s Gh Ahmad Mir achieved a significant victory with 44,270 votes, defeating PDP’s Mohammad Ashraf Malik, who received 15,542 votes, resulting in a margin of 29,728 votes.
In the 2014 elections, the PDP won four seats, including Bijbehara, Dooru, Kokernag, and Anantnag Main, while NC secured Pahalgam and Anantnag West, and Congress won Shangus.
Among four winning candidates of PDP in 2014 only one candidate Ab Rehman Veeri was contesting elections but from a different seat while Farooq Andrabi stayed away from politics. Ab Rahim Rather resigned from the party and Mufti Mohammad Sayed passed away.
NC’s Altaf Ahmad Kaloo and Ab Majeed Bhat Larmi won the seat for the second consecutive time.
