BJP sweeps SC seats in Jammu, ST quota for Paharis bears no fruit

This would have come as a surprise for the BJP as the ST-reserved seats were created after the abrogation of Article 370 in J&K and the Centre had further increased their ambit by including the Paharis – which make up a majority of the voters in Poonch and Rajouri – among STs. However, the move had angered the Gujjars, and this appears to have neutralised any gains for the BJP.

“Gujjars consolidated behind the Congress-NC combine, but even a section of the Paharis voted for them despite being granted ST status (by the Centre),” a tribal researcher who did not wish to be named said.

The NC’s Javaid Iqbal and Javed Ahmed Rana – both Gujjars – defeated the BJP’s Gujjar face, Chowdhary Zulfkar Ali, and Murtaza Khan, a Pahari, from Budhal and Mendhar seats, respectively. The Congress’s Pahari face Iftkar Ahmed trumped the BJP’s Vibodh Gupta, also a Pahari, in the ST-reserved seat of Rajouri. This ended up being the only seat won by the Congress in entire Jammu region.

Gulabgarh saw two Gujjars in the fray, with the NC’s Khursheed Ahmed defeating the Apni Party’s Aijaz Ahmed Khan. The other two ST-reserved seats of Surankote and Thanamandi saw the victory of NC rebels Chowdhary Mohammad Akram and Muzaffar Iqbal Khan – who contested as Independents.