J&K Leaders Who Had The Slim-Saves This Assembly Elections With Less Than 700 Votes

In the 2024 Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections, several candidates managed to clinch victory by razor-thin margins, showcasing the intense competition in key constituencies. Here’s a look at the leaders who emerged victorious with the slimmest of leads.

Shagun Parihar, a 29-year-old PhD scholar in Electronics, made her mark as one of the three women to win in Jammu and Kashmir. Representing the BJP, she won the Kishtwar seat by just 521 votes, narrowly defeating veteran National Conference leader Sajad Ahmed Kitchloo. This victory was particularly significant as it came five years after the tragic loss of her father and uncle in a terror attack. 

The battle for Pattan was a fierce see-saw contest. Javaid Riyaz of the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) ultimately emerged victorious, defeating Imran Raza Ansari of the JK People’s Conference. Riyaz’s win came with a slender margin of 603 votes, reflecting the tight race in the constituency. 

Sajad Gani Lone, chief of the People’s Conference, successfully retained his family’s stronghold in Handwara. He won with a narrow margin of just 662 votes, defeating Chowdry Mohammad Ramzan of the National Conference. While Lone secured his win in Handwara, his political journey in this election had a setback when he lost the Kupwara constituency by over 20,000 votes to Mir Mohammad Fayaz of the Jammu and Kashmir People’s Democratic Party (JKPDP). 

In the Tral assembly seat, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Rafiq Ahmad Naik, secured his win with a margin of just 460 votes. The multi-cornered contest in Tral added to the intensity of the race, but Naik’s narrow victory highlighted the fierce competition in the region. 

Independent candidate Pyare Lal Sharma pulled off a dramatic win in the Inderwal constituency, defeating former minister G M Saroori by 643 votes. Sharma garnered 14,195 votes, while Saroori followed closely with 13,552. Other candidates in the fray included Congress’s Mohammad Zafarullah, who secured 12,533 votes, and BJP’s Tariq Hussain Keen with 9,550 votes.

Bureau Report