2002 Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly election

Elections for the former Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir were held in September -October 2002 in four phases.^[1][2]

2002 Jammu and Kashmir state assembly elections

← 1996 16 September 2002 to 8 October 2002 2008 →
all 87 seats in Legislative Assembly 44 seats needed for a majority
Registered	6,165,285
Turnout	43.70% ( 10.22%)
First party Second party Third party   Leader Omar Abdullah Ghulam Nabi Azad Mufti Mohammad Sayeed Party JKNC INC JKPDP Last election 57 7 - Seats won 28 20 16 Seat change 29 13 16 Percentage 28.24% 24.24% 9.28% Swing 6.54% 4.24% 9.28%   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader Bhim Singh Party JKNPP BJP Last election 1 8 Seats won 4 1 Seat change 3 7 Percentage 3.83% 8.57% Swing 1.58% 3.56%
Chief Minister before election Farooq Abdullah JKNC Elected Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed PDP (in coalition with the INC and JKNPP)

Jammu & Kashmir National Conference was the single largest party but lacked majority. The Jammu and Kashmir People's Democratic Party (PDP) and the Indian National Congress (Congress) formed a coalition government with PDP's Mufti Mohammad Sayeed serving as the Chief Minister for the first three years and Congress's Ghulam Nabi Azad for the next three years. The election saw a major boycott at the appeal of Tehreek -e-Hurriyat.Kashmir division had a voting percentage of 3.5% while Jammu division had a voting percentage of 16.5%.Rajouri district recorded the least voting percentage at 2.7%^[3][4] The Panthers Party formed part of the ruling coalition with Harsh Dev Singh as the party's first cabinet minister.^[5]

Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) were used for first time in Jammu Kashmir assembly elections in 2002.^[6] The international community also appreciated the credibility of the elections and the results that followed it. The elections was seen as a victory of the ballot over the bullet.^[7][8] United States lauded 2002 elections of the state.^[9][10] There were 1.7 million voters in the state for 2002 elections.^[11][12]

Voting

Voting stages

The first phase voting took place on 16 September 2002.^[13] There was a polling station for just 11 voters in Zanskar.^[6] BJP contested on 52 seats while Jammu State Morcha contested on 12 seats.^[14][15] National Conference president Omar Abdullah contested from Ganderbal seat.^[16] Separatists had varied views on the elections ranging from voting to boycott of elections.^[17][18][19]

The four stages of the elections were held as follows:

	Date	Seats	Turnout
	Monday 16 September	23	47.28%
	Sunday 24 November	28	42%
	Sunday 1 October	5	41%
	Sunday 8 October	18	46%
	Total	87	45%
Source:[20]

Results

Summary of the Jammu and Kashmir state assembly election results

Party	Seats	Previously	+/–	Vote %	Vote Share
National Conference	28	57	29	28.24%	7,49,825
Indian National Congress	20	7	13	24.24%	6,43,751
People's Democratic Party	16	-	16	9.28%	2,46,480
Jammu & Kashmir National Panthers Party	4	1	3	3.83%	1,01,830
Communist Party of India (Marxist)	2		0	0.88%	23493
Bharatiya Janata Party	1	8	7	8.57%	2,27,633
Bahujan Samaj Party	1	4	3	4.50%	1,19,492
Democratic Movement	1			0.62%	16,366
Jammu and Kashmir Awami League	1	1	0	0.91%	24,121
Independents	13			16.50%	4,38,287
Total (turnout 43.70%)	87	87		-	-
Valid votes		26,55,570	99.90
Invalid votes		584	0.10
Votes cast / turnout		26,56,627	43.70
Abstentions		24,94,170	56.30%
Registered voters		60,78,570
Source:Election Commission of India[21]

JKNC became the single largest party with 28 seats. Congress became the second largest party with 25 seats.^[22]

Farooq Abdullah resigned as a chief minister on 24 December 2002.^[23]

Results by constituency

• Winner, runner-up, voter turnout, and victory margin in every constituency^[24]

Assembly Constituency		Turnout	Winner					Runner Up					Margin
#k	Names	%	Candidate	Party		Votes	%	Candidate	Party		Votes	%
1	Karnah	65.37%	Kafil-ur-Rehman		JKNC	8,707	46.02%	Mohammed Sikander Khan		INC	6,719	35.51%	1,988
2	Kupwara	55.23%	Saifullah Mir		JKNC	19,233	43.24%	Ghulam Qadir Mir		Independent	19,101	42.94%	132
3	Lolab	46.89%	Qaysar Jamshaid Lone		JKNC	14,408	42.26%	Abdul Haq Khan		Independent	12,412	36.41%	1,996
4	Handwara	51.48%	Ghulam Mohi-Ud-Din Sofi		Independent	15,389	46.67%	Chowdary Mohammed Ramzan		JKNC	12,392	37.58%	2,997
5	Langate	53.97%	Sharifuddin Shariq		JKNC	8,058	30.16%	M. Sultan Pandithpori		JKPDP	5,658	21.18%	2,400
6	Uri	66.49%	Taj Mohiuddin		INC	20,460	48.51%	Mohammad Shafi		JKNC	20,276	48.08%	184
7	Rafiabad	52.55%	Mohammad Dilawar Mir		JKNC	11,576	35.%	Abdul Gani Vakil		INC	10,944	33.09%	632
8	Sopore	8.09%	Abdul Rashid Dar		INC	2,062	33.19%	Abdul Ahad Vakil		JKNC	1,515	24.39%	547
9	Gurez	76.5%	Nazir Ahmad Khan		JKNC	5,782	53.45%	Faqir Mohammed Khan		Independent	4,532	41.9%	1,250
10	Bandipora	31.27%	Usman Abdul Majid		JKAL	5,722	25.8%	Habibullah Bhat		INC	5,469	24.66%	253
11	Sonawari	56.51%	Mohammad Akbar Lone		JKNC	25,687	58.05%	Mohammad Yusuf Parray		JKAL	12,929	29.22%	12,758
12	Sangrama	22.11%	Ghulam Nabi Lone		JKPDP	3,697	35.91%	Mohammed Yousuf		JKNC	2,638	25.63%	1,059
13	Baramulla	24.15%	Muzaffar Hussain Baig		JKPDP	6,833	38.62%	Ghulam Nabi Kachru		JKNC	3,984	22.52%	2,849
14	Gulmarg	50.52%	Ghulam Hassan Mir		JKPDP	27,737	78.16%	Sheikh Mustafa Kamal		JKNC	7,749	21.84%	19,988
15	Pattan	41.56%	Iftikhar Hussain Ansari		JKNC	15,268	52.63%	Dr.Abdul Ahad Yatoo		INC	13,084	45.1%	2,184
16	Kangan	52.03%	Mian Altaf Ahmed Larvi		JKNC	16,987	64.71%	Ghulam Mohammed Dar		JKPDP	5,948	22.66%	11,039
17	Ganderbal	35.21%	Qazi Mohammad Afzal		JKPDP	11,622	48.26%	Omar Abdullah		JKNC	8,752	36.34%	2,870
18	Hazratbal	7.12%	Mohammed Syed Akhoon		JKNC	3,042	49.79%	Ghulam Mohi-Ud-Din Akhoon		JKPDP	1,639	26.82%	1,403
19	Zadibal	4.78%	Shahjahan Dar		Independent	1,514	46.67%	Khawja Sadiq Ali		JKNC	1,220	37.61%	294
20	Eidgah	4.75%	Mubarak Ahmed Gul		JKNC	2,026	60.62%	Mohammed Ashraf Bakashi		Independent	747	22.35%	1,279
21	Khanyar	4.22%	Ali Mohammad Sagar		JKNC	2,868	93.85%	Mushtaq Ahmad		INC	127	4.16%	2,741
22	Habba Kadal	3.21%	Raman Mattoo		Independent	587	28.47%	Hira Lal Chatta		BJP	416	20.17%	171
23	Amira Kadal	3.06%	Mohammad Shafi Bhat		INC	1,163	51.01%	Ghulam Nabi Mir		JKNC	672	29.47%	491
24	Sonawar	9.96%	Mohammed Yasin Shah		JKNC	3,445	54.66%	Ghulam Hussain Wani		JKPDP	1,740	27.61%	1,705
25	Batmaloo	4.%	Ghulam Mohi-Ud-Din Shah		JKNC	2,065	49.51%	Tariq Hameed Karra		JKPDP	1,223	29.32%	842
26	Chadoora	52.45%	Javaid Mustafa Mir		JKPDP	15,923	58.03%	Ali Mohammad Dar		JKNC	7,876	28.7%	8,047
27	Budgam	33.41%	Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi		JKNC	11,398	50.59%	Aga Syed Mahmood Almosvi		Independent	4,753	21.1%	6,645
28	Beerwah	35.06%	Mohammed Sarfraz Khan		JKPDP	16,886	66.%	Mohammed Amin Banday		JKNC	4,966	19.41%	11,920
29	Khan Sahib	49.51%	Hakeem Mohammad Yaseen Shah		Independent	20,186	67.22%	Abdul Gani Naseem		JKNC	4,393	14.63%	15,793
30	Charari Sharief	63.71%	Abdul Rahim Rather		JKNC	20,275	51.29%	Ghulam Nabi Lone		JKPDP	16,520	41.79%	3,755
31	Tral	11.55%	Ghulam Nabi Bhat		JKNC	3,253	47.3%	Surinder Singh		INC	2,944	42.8%	309
32	Pampore	19.17%	Abdul Aziz Mir		JKPDP	3,811	38.46%	Mohammed Anwar Bhat		INC	3,106	31.35%	705
33	Pulwama	18.13%	Mohammad Khalil Band		JKPDP	5,209	53.09%	Bashir Ahmad Nengroo		JKNC	2,782	28.36%	2,427
34	Rajpora	36.71%	Syed Bashir Ahmad		JKPDP	13,946	58.6%	Ghulam Mohi Uddin Mir		JKNC	5,860	24.62%	8,086
35	Wachi	28.29%	Khalil Naik		CPI(M)	4,133	29.19%	Ghulam Hassan Bhat		JKPDP	4,053	28.62%	80
36	Shopian	26.91%	Ghulam Hassan Khan		JKPDP	4,083	27.2%	Sheikh Mohammed Rafi		JKNC	3,363	22.4%	720
37	Noorabad	23.41%	Abdul Aziz Zargar		JKPDP	3,616	29.74%	Sakeena Akhtar		JKNC	3,301	27.15%	315
38	Kulgam	24.4%	Mohamad Yousuf Tarigami		CPI(M)	8,346	51.72%	Ghulam Nabi Dar		JKNC	3,461	21.45%	4,885
39	Hom Shali Bugh	22.93%	Abdul Gafar Sofi		JKPDP	6,803	58.59%	Mohammed Amin Dar		CPI(M)	2,327	20.04%	4,476
40	Anantnag	7.16%	Dr. Mehboob Beigh		JKNC	3,513	70.23%	Liyakat Ali Khan		JKAL	652	13.03%	2,861
41	Devsar	35.56%	Mohammed Sartaj Madni		JKPDP	8,721	38.52%	Mohammed Yaqub		CPI(M)	5,695	25.16%	3,026
42	Dooru	40.48%	Ghulam Ahmad Mir		INC	14,461	66.19%	Syed Manzoor Ahmad		JKNC	3,119	14.28%	11,342
43	Kokernag	15.27%	Peerzada Mohammad Syed		INC	3,356	38.06%	Ghulam Rasool Malik		JKPDP	2,920	33.12%	436
44	Shangus–Anantnag East	25.4%	Peer Mohammed Hussain		JKPDP	5,115	37.07%	Gulzar Ahmad Wani		INC	4,774	34.6%	341
45	Srigufwara–Bijbehara	16.67%	Abdul Rehman Bhat		JKPDP	5,961	58.32%	Abdul Gani Shah		JKNC	2,084	20.39%	3,877
46	Pahalgam	33.02%	Mehbooba Mufti		JKPDP	8,544	45.11%	Rafi Ahmed Mir		JKNC	6,405	33.82%	2,139
47	Kargil	74.83%	Haji Nissar Ali		Independent	27,384	56.61%	Qamar Ali Akhoon		JKNC	20,988	43.39%	6,396
48	Zanskar	78.97%	Mohammed Abass		JKNC	8,580	47.67%	Tsering Chhosphel		Independent	5,393	29.96%	3,187
49	Kishtwar	54.82%	Sajjad Hussain		JKNC	16,725	41.32%	Ghulam Haider Sheikh		INC	15,062	37.21%	1,663
50	Inderwal	56.61%	Ghulam Mohammad Saroori		INC	24,551	64.75%	Jalal-Ud-Din		JKNC	5,667	14.95%	18,884
51	Doda	55.54%	Abdul Majid Wani		Independent	13,799	35.29%	Khalid Najib Soharawardy		JKNC	13,192	33.74%	607
52	Bhaderwah	54.25%	Mohammed Sharief		INC	16,962	34.18%	Mohammed Aslam		JKNC	10,135	20.42%	6,827
53	Ramban	57.71%	Dr. Chaman Lal		JKNC	15,220	36.12%	Ashok Kumar		INC	12,681	30.1%	2,539
54	Banihal	40.55%	Molvi Abdul Rashid		Independent	11,393	47.51%	Mohammed Farooq Mir		JKNC	4,719	19.68%	6,674
55	Gulabgarh	55.99%	Abdul Ghani Malik		JKNC	12,476	35.15%	Ajaz Ahmad Khan		Independent	9,546	26.9%	2,930
56	Reasi	62.2%	Jugal Kishore		INC	23,045	36.97%	Baldev Raj		BJP	20,989	33.67%	2,056
57	Gool Arnas	60.08%	Ajaz Ahmed Khan		Independent	10,881	33.36%	Kabala Singh		BJP	5,895	18.08%	4,986
58	Udhampur	58.39%	Balwant Singh Mankotia		JKNPP	24,679	40.39%	Pawan Kumar Gupta		BJP	14,727	24.1%	9,952
59	Chenani	61.54%	Faquir Nath		JKNPP	17,118	37.42%	Krishan Chander		INC	15,353	33.56%	1,765
60	Ramnagar	60.72%	Harsh Dev Singh		JKNPP	29,914	50.4%	Khalil Allaha Qazi		BSP	13,430	22.63%	16,484
61	Bani	67.63%	Prem Sagar		INC	10,395	42.68%	Ghulam Haider Malik		JKNC	6,708	27.54%	3,687
62	Basohli	63.15%	Chaudhary Lal Singh		INC	18,916	43.61%	Jagdish Raj Sapolia		BJP	15,248	35.15%	3,668
63	Kathua	57.%	Jatinder Singh		DM	16,366	25.56%	Sagar Chand		BSP	13,307	20.79%	3,059
64	Billawar	63.9%	Manohar Lal Sharma		Independent	24,736	47.77%	Balbir Singh		INC	10,175	19.65%	14,561
65	Hiranagar	60.12%	Girdhari Lal		INC	31,402	54.88%	Gopal Dass		BJP	13,190	23.05%	18,212
66	Samba	58.47%	Yash Paul Kundal		JKNPP	11,079	25.31%	Swarn Lata		INC	10,333	23.6%	746
67	Vijaypur	64.19%	Manjit Singh		BSP	25,406	39.21%	Surjeet Singh Slathia		JKNC	20,329	31.37%	5,077
68	Nagrota	63.85%	Jugal Kishore Sharma		BJP	10,653	26.82%	Ajatshatru Singh		JKNC	10,586	26.65%	67
69	Gandhinagar	48.46%	Raman Bhalla		INC	37,010	49.81%	Harbans Singh		JKNC	26,517	35.69%	10,493
70	Jammu East	38.67%	Yogesh Kumar Sawhney		INC	11,784	34.91%	Ashok Kumar		BJP	8,448	25.03%	3,336
71	Jammu West	38.69%	Mangat Ram Sharma		INC	25,627	40.47%	Virander Kumar Gupta		Independent	17,704	27.96%	7,923
72	Bishnah	67.43%	Ashwani Kumar Sharma		Independent	17,961	32.72%	Kamal Verma		JKNC	13,298	24.22%	4,663
73	Ranbir Singh Pora–Jammu South	61.4%	Suman Lata Bhagat		INC	19,669	41.4%	Romesh Lal Mottan		NCP	16,485	34.7%	3,184
74	Suchetgarh	69.81%	Gharu Ram Bhagat		INC	11,344	27.45%	Rajinder Singh Chib		BJP	11,207	27.11%	137
75	Marh	68.83%	Ajay Sadhotra		JKNC	14,959	31.87%	Sukh Nandan Kumar		BJP	13,792	29.39%	1,167
76	Raipur Domana	61.05%	Mulla Ram		INC	20,538	43.49%	Bharat Bhushan		Independent	8,852	18.74%	11,686
77	Akhnoor	71.27%	Madan Lal Sharma		INC	17,102	29.36%	Govind Ram Sharma		JKNC	16,037	27.54%	1,065
78	Chhamb	70.47%	Tara Chand		INC	20,630	46.3%	Chhaju Ram Lamba		JKNC	10,296	23.1%	10,334
79	Nowshera	57.86%	Romesh Chander Sharma		INC	20,511	40.25%	Radhey Sham Sharma		JKNC	16,037	31.47%	4,474
80	Darhal	46.61%	Thakur Puran Singh		Independent	11,832	28.09%	Chowdhary Liaqat Ali		JKNC	11,615	27.58%	217
81	Rajouri	27.05%	Mohammed Aslam		JKNC	11,933	40.%	Qamar Hussain		INC	9,255	31.02%	2,678
82	Kalakote	48.66%	Rachpal Singh		JKNC	19,324	46.61%	Ashok Kumar Sharma		INC	18,124	43.71%	1,200
83	Surankote	40.01%	Mushtaq Ahmad Shah		JKNC	15,243	45.84%	Mohammed Aslam		INC	13,271	39.91%	1,972
84	Mendhar	60.29%	Javed Ahmed Rana		JKNC	24,530	51.39%	Rafiq Hussain Khan		Independent	16,665	34.92%	7,865
85	Poonch Haveli	60.73%	Ghulam Mohammed Jan		JKNC	27,364	47.41%	Yeshpal Sharma		INC	26,718	46.3%	646
86	Nubra	-	Sonam Wangchuk Narboo		Independent	Elected Unopposed
87	Leh	-	Nawang Rigzin Jora		Independent	Elected Unopposed