Ishtiyaq Ahmad
Early Times Report
srinagar, July 17: Keeping eye on the Assembly elections, the political parties in Jammu and Kashmir have decided to hire election strategists for the campaigning and also to check voting share trends of the past polls.
Sources said that National Conference has decided to hire election strategists for the upcoming polls. "There are several names who the leadership wants to hire. We are in touch with few of them," a National Conference leader said.
The NC leader said that these strategists will also help the party to check past trends of voting shares in the state. "We have to find reasons for decline in voting share," the leader said.
In 2014 Parliamentary elections when the NC drew blank, it had vote share of 11.10 percent, which dropped to 7.89 percent in 2019 when the party won all the three seats from the Kashmir Valley.
In Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency, 186832 votes were polled where Farooq got 1,06,750 votes. NC's Mohammad Akbar Lone, who emerged winner from north Kashmir, bagged 133426 out of 455550 votes polled. While the NC leader Masoodi secured 32.17 percent of votes out of 124896 votes polled from south Kashmir constituency.
In 2009, the NC got 19.11 per cent vote share, bagging two seats.
Similarly, the PDP also wants to hire strategists how to revive the party. "The PDP has been losing its ground. The party leadership is worried how to review the party," a source said.
The vote share of the Peoples Democratic Party, which lost all seats from the Kashmir Valley has dipped from 20.54 percent in 2014 to 2.4 percent in 2019. It candidate Aga Syed Mohsin secured 36,700 from Srinagar Parliamentary constituency. While Mehbooba Mufti who contested from Anantnag Lok Sabha constituency got 24.44 percent of votes.
PDP leader Abdul Qayoom Wani polled 53530 votes from north Kashmir Lok Sabha constituency.
While in 2009 Lok Sabha polls, the PDP got 20.05 per cent polls and also bagged one seat.
The Congress, which contested five seats in Jammu and Kashmir and lost all, polled 1,011,527 votes taking 28.5 per cent share of total votes polled but failed to win any seats. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress got 22.90 per cent vote share. In the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, the party bagged two seats with 19.11 per cent vote share. "The Congress leadership at the Centre has already decided to hire several election strategists for various states including for Jammu and Kashmir," a source within the Congress said. |
