It’s a wrap: The big winners and losers in Kashmir

Tariq Hameed Karra: The Pradesh Congress Committee president won from the Central Shalteng seat in Srinagar, where he was up against national Conference rebel Mohammad Irfan Shah, who contested as an Independent candidate. Karra secured 18,933 votes as against Shah’s 4,538 votes.

Waheed Parra: The PDP youth president was one of just three candidates from the party to win Tuesday. Parra defeated National Conference candidate and former party colleague Mohammad Khalil Bandh by over 8,000 votes in Pulwama. Bandh had won the Pulwama seat for three consecutive terms in 2002, 2008 and 2014.

Ghulam Ahmad Mir: The former Pradesh Congress Committee chief won by the largest margin in the Valley. He defeated PDP’s Mohammad Ashraf Malik by close to 30,000 votes from the Dooru Assembly segment.

M Y Tarigami: A joint candidate of the alliance including NC and Congress, the Communist leader secured his fifth consecutive win from Kulgam Assembly constituency. Tarigami defeated Jamaat-e-Islami backed Independent candidate Sayar Ahmad Reshi by around 8,000 votes.

Javid Reyaz Bedar: The former police officer defeated prominent Shia cleric and People’s Conference leader Imran Reza Ansari by 600 votes. Bedar’s win is significant as he dislodged Ansari from his family bastion. Imran Reza Ansari and his father Iftikhar Hussain Ansari had won the seat for five terms in the past.

Farooq Ahmad Shah: A bureaucrat-turned-politician, Shah defeated senior leader Ghulam Hassan Mir from the Gulmarg Assembly seat by over 4,000 votes. A debutant, Shah was fielded by the National Conference against Apni Party stalwart Mir and came out top after a stiff contest.

Big losers

Iltija Mufti: The daughter of former chief minister and PDP president Mehbooba Mufti, Iltija lost to the National Conference’s Bashir Ahmad Veeri from the Bijbehara constituency – a family bastion of the Muftis. While Veeri won over 32,000 votes, Iltija could manage only around 23,000.

Altaf Bukhari: The Apni Party president lost to National Conference’s Mushtaq Ahmad Guroo by over 5,500 votes from Srinagar’s Channapora – an Assembly segment that he had won in 2014. Bukhari was one of the two Apni Party candidates widely expected to win this time, but despite aggressive campaigning, he and his party failed to make a mark.

Sartaj Madni: The uncle of PDP president Mehbooba Mufti, Madni lost to National Conference’s Peerzada Feroze Ahmad by a close margin from the Devsar Assembly segment in south Kashmir’s Kulgam. Madni secured 17,390 votes while his rival got 18,230.

Junaid Mattu: The former mayor of Srinagar lost to National Conference’s Tanvir Sadiq by over 16,000 votes. Sadiq secured 22,189 votes as opposed to the just 2,700 received by Mattu, who was contesting as an Independent candidate.

Abdul Rehman Veeri: The senior PDP leader, who earlier represented the Bijbehara seat, was moved to Anantnag East by the party this time. There, he lost to NC’s Reyaz Ahmad Khan by over 14,000 votes.