Less than 33% vote share: Parties have failed in LS polls in JK since 2004

1 min read
Vote

Srinagar, Mar 14: A student is declared ‘failed’ if he or she scores less than 33 percent in the exams but no such tag is attached to all major political parties for their miserable performances in the Lok Sabha elections conducted in J&K since 2004.
No political party has been able to get more than 33 percent votes in General elections in the last one-and-a-half decade in the state questioning the elected leaders’ position as ‘people’s representatives’.
The Lok Sabha election in Jammu and Kashmir will be held in five phases beginning April 11.
The restive Anantnag parliamentary constituency, comprising Anantnag, Shopian and Kulgam districts, will go to the polls “in parts” in the third, fourth, and fifth phase.
While the administration is in all preparation mode, data shows that historically the Lok Sabha elections have seen meagre voter percentage in the state since 2004.
The voting share of four mainstream parties–National Conference, Peoples Democratic Party, Congress, and Bharatiya Janata Party–has never reached 33 percent in the last 15 years.
The NC had secured 22.02 percent vote share in 2004 Lok Sabha polls, which further dipped to 19.11 percent in 2009 general elections.
The 2014 Lok Sabha elections witnessed a further eight percent decline in NC’s vote share as the party polled only 11.1 percent.
NC’s General Secretary, Ali Mohammad Sagar, said that his party was in a “far better” position than 2014 polls.
“You will see a huge increase in our voting share in upcoming polls. People are waiting to vote for NC candidates,” Sagar said.
The vote share of Congress too has decreased over the years. In 2004 Parliamentary elections, the Congress had secured 27.83 percent vote share, which dipped to 24.67 percent in 2009.
In 2014, the number slumped even further to 22 percent triggering an unprecedented debacle. The Congress had won two Lok Sabha seats in 2009 Parliamentary polls.
Senior Congress leader, G N Monga, said he expected that people would cast their vote in large numbers for Congress candidates. “We are hopeful to win all seats,” Monga said.
PDP’s record too isn’t impressive as the party polled 11.94 percent in 2004 elections, which increased to 20.5 percent in 2009.  The PDP won all the three Parliamentary seats of the Valley in 2014 Parliamentary polls but there was not much difference in its vote share as compared to 2009 polls. 
“We could not fulfill all promises we had made with the electorate. We won’t let Kashmiris down if our candidates won this time,” PDP spokesperson Rafi Ahmad Mir, said.
The BJP got voting share of 18.61 percent in 2009 and 32.4 in 2014 Parliamentary polls. The BJP won two Parliamentary seats from Jammu and one from Ladakh in 2014 polls.

Discover more from The Kashmir Monitor

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading

Don't Miss

000 1RM1WL

India’s COVID19 tally crosses 1.73 lakh

India coronavirus cases have crossed 1.73 lakh mark taking positive patients toll
CS 31

CS reviews status of National Highway-44

JAMMU, MARCH 31: Chief Secretary, B. V. R. Subrahmanyam, today chaired a