Srinagar: As the much-hyped and long-awaited Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections head toward a conclusion, early trends are pointing to a likely victory for the National Conference (NC), with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leading in 27 seats and the Indian National Congress (INC) ahead in eight. The People's Democratic Party (PDP), meanwhile, is leading on five seats.
The numbers suggest that the INDIA Bloc, comprising the NC and Congress, is on track to comfortably cross the magic mark of 46 seats in the 90-member assembly, while the key question of who will be the next Chief Minister, remains unanswered.
Despite the edge NC seems to have, none of the major political players have declared their chief ministerial candidate. Even traditional powerhouses like the NC and PDP, whose leaders have previously held the CM office, are staying tight-lipped.
The Vice President of the National Conference and a former chief minister, Omar Abdullah, responded cautiously. "We are hopeful of emerging victorious today as the vote counting is underway. I don't trust early trends, you remember what happened during the Lok Sabha elections. I was leading first then I lost," he said.
"We forged this alliance with the hope of achieving better results. Let the counting conclude, and once the results are out, the parties will sit together and decide our future course of action," Omar said.
Congress and PDP representatives echoed the similar caution, stating “it was too early” to make any definitive comments on the next Chief Minister.
The political landscape of Jammu and Kashmir has always been unpredictable. In the 2014 elections, the BJP formed a coalition government with the PDP. In 2008, the NC came to power with Congress's support, and in 2002, a Congress-PDP alliance led the government. As per the trends, the PDP can't play the role of kingmaker this time, despite having backed both the Congress and BJP at different times.
Even the BJP hesitated to name its candidate for the top post despite having top choices such as former Deputy Chief Ministers Kavinder Gupta and Nirmal Singh, as well as longtime state president Ravindra Raina.
Meanwhile, NC chief Dr Farooq Abdullah confirmed that his son will be the next CM of the J&K.
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