Though the BJP has shown strong performance in Jammu, Mr Prasad said the “lotus had bloomed in the Valley as well”.
Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad today said Jammu and Kashmir has delivered a “resounding slap” on “terrorists, extremists, and separatists”, pointing to the results of local body elections in the newly formed Union Territory. The Minister said the BJP’s emergence as the single largest party has proved that the people have shown their preference for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “larger narrative”. None of the individual parties which are part of Gupkar alliance could able to compete with the BJP, and this, Mr Prasad said, was the reason behind the tie-up.
The law minister, addressing a press conference today as the final results in the election became known, said the BJP has won 74 seats against the 67 seats of Omar Abdullah’s National Conference, 27 of Mehbooba Mufti’s People’s Democratic Party and the Congress’s 26 seats. The People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration, led by Farooq Abdullah, won 110 seats.
Mr Prasad said, “The BJP got over 4.5 lakh votes, which is more than National Conference, PDP and Congress combined.” The BJP leader also added that many of the 39 independent winners had his party’s support.
Though the BJP has shown strong performance in Jammu, Mr Prasad said the “lotus had bloomed in the Valley as well”
The BJP won three seats in Kashmir Valley for the first time, where the National Conference, the PDP and the local parties always had a free run. The Gupkar Alliance has won 72 seats in the Valley.
“The voter turnout in Kashmir, especially in places known as ‘hotbeds of terror’, has been much higher than in previous elections, before the scrapping of Article 370,” Mr Prasad said.
“Sopore, Pulwama, Shopian, Gandarbal which you all may know were hotbeds of terror and extremist activity, has come out in large numbers and voted. The people have shown the terrorists what they believe in. They have given a slap to those who propagate terror,” he further added.
This was because the people of Kashmir have seen a “free, fair and proper election for the first time”, the minister claimed.
“The people have seen how election activity happens at the ground level. People have seen for the first time how a true democracy and development functions on the ground,” Mr Prasad claimed.
However, the Gupkar alliance brushed away BJP’s claims as “propaganda”.
Former J&K CM and NC leader Omar Abdullah tweeted: “It’s amusing to see the desperation of the BJP propaganda wallas. Yesterday it was about 3 seats in the valley & today it’s about being the single largest party. They aren’t even embarrassed about making comparisons with @jknc which contested far fewer seats due to an alliance”.
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