National Conference (NC), the grand old political party of Jammu and Kashmir, has hit the historic low by wining only 15 seats against 28 it won in 2008 elections.
Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah, who was contesting from two seats won from Beerwa but lost to Sonawar constituency to
PDP's Ashraf Mir who emerged as 'giant killer'.
Even in Srinagar, which has traditionally supported NC, the party lost five out of eight seats, all to PDP. This is for the first time that any party has wrested Srinagar from NC. The only saving grace for NC was the victory in Habba Kadal where Shameema Firdous defeated Moti Koul of BJP.
Some heavy weights of NC who lost include veteran leader and former financé minister Abdul Rahim Rather from Charar-e-sharief, Omar's uncle Mustafa Kamal from Gulmarg, the only woman minister Sakina Ittoo from Noorabad, Nasir Aslam Wani, a close aide and friend of Omar from Amira Kadal and CAPD minister Chowdhry Ramzan from Handwara.
The party was banking big on the Srinagar and north Kashmir. Both have proved to be a disappointment. However, the party can take some relief from victories on a few seats in PDP's bastion of south Kashmir like Pahalgam and Homeshalibugh.
It was, however, PDP and BJP which gained the most from the elections. PDP, which had only 21 members in 2008, improved their tally and emerged as single largest party with 28 MLAs. BJP, which had 11 members in 2008 rode high on Modi wave and won 25 seats and all of those from Jammu.
Congress too was decimated with winning only 12 seats out of 17 it had won in 2008. Deputy chief minister Tara Chand and urban development minister Raman Bhalla were among the prominent losers.
"We have not done that badly as was being projected by the exit polls. Congress is in a better position though we have lost some seats. Our performance is better. We are placed at second in several seats", said GN Monga, senior vice president of J&K Pradesh Congress Committee.
PDP victory too had some glitches with top leaders losing their seats from their traditional bastions. Mehbooba Mufti's maternal uncle and stand in speaker Sartaj Madni lost from Devsar while Rafi Mir lost from Pahalgam.
"The mandate is not decisive and probably not to our expectations. We were expecting more in which we have not succeeded", said Mehbooba Mufti, PDP president.
Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah has hinted to hand over his resignation to governor NN Vohra on Wednesday. "Photo changed because the party logo was only being used till the elections & my bio will change once I've called on the Governor tomorrow," Omar tweeted
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