2008 Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly election

Elections for the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir were held over seven days in November and December 2008. The previous government led by the Jammu and Kashmir People's Democratic Party (PDP) in coalition with the Indian National Congress (INC) collapsed when the PDP withdrew. Following the election, the Jammu & Kashmir National Conference (NC) agreed on a coalition with Congress and their leader, Omar Abdullah became the state's youngest-ever Chief Minister at 38.

2008 Jammu and Kashmir state assembly elections

← 2002 17 November 2008 to 24 December 2008 2014 →
all 87 seats in Legislative Assembly 44 seats needed for a majority
Registered	6,461,757
Turnout	61.16% (17.46%)
First party Second party Third party   Leader Farooq Abdullah Mehbooba Mufti Party JKNC JKPDP INC Last election 28 16 20 Seats won 28 21 17 Seat change 5 3 Percentage 23.07% 15.39% 17.71% Swing 5.17% 6.11% 6.53%   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader Bhim Singh Party BJP JKNPP Last election 1 4 Seats won 11 3 Seat change 10 1 Percentage 12.45% 3.33% Swing 3.88% 0.5%
Chief Minister before election Ghulam Nabi Azad INC Elected Chief Minister Omar Abdullah JKNC

Background

Elections for the Jammu and Kashmir state Assembly were due in 2008, following the end of the term of the Assembly elected in 2002. However, the PDP withdrew from the INC-led state government in protest at the Amarnath land transfer decision. The INC government resigned in July 2008 and the state was brought under the direct rule of the central government pending the elections.^[1]

Boycott

The main Kashmiri separatist group, the All Parties Hurriyat Conference called on Kashmiris to boycott the elections, saying the elections were a "futile exercise" that would never "fulfill the aspirations of the people".^[2]

Despite these boycott calls, NC leaders claimed that activists from Jamaat-e-Islami had come out and voted for the PDP.^[3]

There were scattered separatist protests throughout the elections, including hundreds who protested in Srinagar. Police prevented these protestors from marching to the center of the city which led to protestors throwing stones at the police who fired tear gas and used baton charges.^[4]

Security

Indian election officials voiced major concerns about the security of the elections given the calls for a boycott and protest from separatist leaders and the recent violence over the Amarnath land transfer controversy. Voting was staggered so that security forces could maintain control. Thousands of security forces were deployed during the voting. In Srinagar, security forces were posted at junctions, patrolled the streets, and guarded polling stations. An unofficial curfew was enforced, gatherings of more than five people banned and neighborhoods were sealed off with steel barricades and razor wire.^[4]

Police also arrested three men they accused of being Jaish-e-Mohammed members planning suicide attacks in Jammu.^[5] One of those arrested was a soldier in the Army of Pakistan, who Pakistan said had deserted in 2006.^[4] However following the polls the NC leader, Farooq Abdullah, thanked the Pakistan government for their "non-interference" with the polls.^[6]

Results

The seven stages of the elections were held as follows:

Voting stages

	Date	Seats	Turnout
	Monday 17 November	10	69.02%
	Sunday 23 November	6	68.29%
	Sunday 30 November	5	68.22%
	Sunday 7 December	18	59.24%
	Saturday 13 December	11	58.5%
	Wednesday 17 December	16	65.93%
	Wednesday 24 December	21	52.0%
	Total	87	60.5%
Source:[7][8]

Turnout rose by 17%, despite calls from Kashmiri separatists and Pakistan for Kashmiris to boycott the election.^[8][9] INC head Sonia Gandhi described the polls as "a triumph of Indian democracy".

Separatist supporters were said to have backed the PDP.^[9] The BJP's increase in support was said to be due to polarisation arising from the Amarnath land transfer controversy, which led it to increase its seat tally from 1 to 11 seats.^[10]

1,354 candidates stood for election including 517 independents and nominees from 43 political parties.^[11]

Summary

Summary of the November - December 2008 Jammu and Kashmir state assembly election results

Party	Flag	Seats	+/–
National Conference		28	0
People's Democratic Party		21	5
Indian National Congress		17	3
Bharatiya Janata Party		11	10
Jammu & Kashmir National Panthers Party		3	1
Communist Party of India (Marxist)		1	1
People's Democratic Front		1
Jammu & Kashmir Democratic Party Nationalist		1
Independents		4
Total (turnout 60.5%)		87
Source: Electoral Commission of India[permanent dead link]

Elected Members

Results by constituency

• Winner, runner-up, voter turnout, and victory margin in every constituency^[12]

Assembly Constituency		Turnout	Winner					Runner Up					Margin
#k	Names	%	Candidate	Party		Votes	%	Candidate	Party		Votes	%
1	Karnah	79.65%	Kifil-Ur-Rehman Khan		JKNC	4,110	19.15%	Abdul Rehman Bhadana		JKANC	2,962	13.8%	1,148
2	Kupwara	62.43%	Saifullah Mir		JKNC	16,696	30.07%	Fayaz Ahmad Mir		JKPDP	11,514	20.74%	5,182
3	Lolab	68.15%	Abdul Haq Khan		JKPDP	23,337	40.67%	Qaysar Jamshaid Lone		JKNC	17,990	31.35%	5,347
4	Handwara	75.58%	Chowdary Mohammed Ramzan		JKNC	27,907	48.38%	Ghulam Mohi-Ud-Din Sofi		Independent	16,317	28.29%	11,590
5	Langate	61.33%	Sheikh Abdul Rashid		Independent	7,964	21.86%	Mohammed Sultan Pandithpori		JKPDP	7,754	21.29%	210
6	Uri	81.73%	Taj Mohiuddin		INC	24,036	44.54%	Mohammad Shafi		JKNC	22,157	41.06%	1,879
7	Rafiabad	51.86%	Javid Ahmad Dar		JKNC	13,198	35.89%	Mohammad Dilawar Mir		JKPDP	12,982	35.3%	216
8	Sopore	19.96%	Mohammed Ashraf Ganie		JKNC	4,368	24.24%	Abdul Rashid Dar		INC	3,304	18.34%	1,064
9	Gurez	74.02%	Nazir Ahmad Khan		JKNC	5,817	51.06%	Faqeer Ahmad Khan		INC	5,085	44.64%	732
10	Bandipora	57.08%	Nizam Uddin Bhat		JKPDP	13,051	26.1%	Usman Abdul Majid		Independent	12,231	24.46%	820
11	Sonawari	59.95%	Mohammad Akbar Lone		JKNC	20,108	39.74%	Abid Hussain Ansari		Independent	7,951	15.71%	12,157
12	Sangrama	46.61%	Syed Basharat Ahmad		JKPDP	7,812	28.09%	Shoaib Nabi Lone		Independent	6,482	23.31%	1,330
13	Baramulla	33.31%	Muzaffar Hussain Baig		JKPDP	13,019	53.46%	Nazir Hussain Khan		JKNC	7,621	31.29%	5,398
14	Gulmarg	59.8%	Ghulam Hassan Mir		Jammu & Kashmir Democratic Party Nationalist	18,253	36.81%	Sheikh Mustafa Kamal		JKNC	11,812	23.82%	6,441
15	Pattan	50.84%	Iftikhar Hussain Ansari		JKPDP	20,703	51.14%	Abdul Rashid Shaheen		JKNC	9,432	23.3%	11,271
16	Kangan	59.53%	Mian Altaf Ahmed Larvi		JKNC	19,210	54.98%	Mian Bashir Ahmed		JKPDP	11,495	32.9%	7,715
17	Ganderbal	51.73%	Omar Abdullah		JKNC	16,519	41.49%	Qazi Mohammad Afzal		JKPDP	8,304	20.85%	8,215
18	Hazratbal	28.91%	Farooq Abdullah		JKNC	11,041	44.66%	Asiea		JKPDP	6,769	27.38%	4,272
19	Zadibal	17.3%	Peer Aafaq Ahmed		JKNC	4,335	34.89%	Shahi Jahan Dar		JKPDP	3,094	24.9%	1,241
20	Eidgah	22.07%	Mubarak Ahmed Gul		JKNC	4,457	35.97%	Asifa Tariq Qara		JKPDP	2,778	22.42%	1,679
21	Khanyar	17.41%	Ali Mohammad Sagar		JKNC	6,314	74.16%	Showkat Ahmad Hafiz		JKPDP	806	9.47%	5,508
22	Habba Kadal	11.62%	Shamim Firdous		JKNC	2,374	41.14%	Hira Lal Chatta		BJP	672	11.65%	1,702
23	Amira Kadal	14.96%	Nasir Aslam Wani		JKNC	3,912	34.75%	Parvaiz Ahmed Bhat		JKPDP	3,103	27.56%	809
24	Sonawar	36.66%	Farooq Abdullah		JKNC	7,018	28.23%	Sheikh Ghulam Qadir Pardesi		JKPDP	6,924	27.86%	94
25	Batmaloo	19.96%	Mohammed Irfan Shah		JKNC	9,447	44.83%	Tariq Hameed Karra		JKPDP	6,738	31.97%	2,709
26	Chadoora	53.79%	Javaid Mustafa Mir		JKPDP	16,278	41.36%	Ali Mohammad Dar		JKNC	13,338	33.89%	2,940
27	Budgam	55.17%	Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi		JKNC	19,652	40.15%	Mohammed Kamal Malik		JKPDP	9,692	19.8%	9,960
28	Beerwah	57.18%	Shafi Ahmad Wani		JKPDP	11,720	24.42%	Abdul Majid Matoo		JKNC	11,556	24.08%	164
29	Khan Sahib	74.73%	Hakeem Mohammad Yaseen Shah		People's Democratic Front (Jammu and Kashmir)	22,616	41.94%	Saif Ud Din Bhat		JKPDP	14,221	26.37%	8,395
30	Charari Sharief	74.58%	Abdul Rahim Rather		JKNC	24,579	48.3%	Ghulam Nabi Lone		JKPDP	18,204	35.78%	6,375
31	Tral	48.69%	Mushtaq Ahmad Shah		JKPDP	10,393	28.47%	Mohammed Ashraf Bhat		JKNC	6,586	18.04%	3,807
32	Pampore	43.43%	Zahoor Ahmad Mir		JKPDP	11,117	36.84%	Mohammed Anwar Bhat		INC	5,969	19.78%	5,148
33	Pulwama	40.84%	Mohammed Khalil Band		JKPDP	10,639	36.45%	Sonaullah Dar		Independent	4,003	13.71%	6,636
34	Rajpora	50.61%	Syed Bashir Ahmad Shah		JKPDP	10,177	25.12%	Ghulam Mohi Uddin Mir		Independent	9,230	22.79%	947
35	Wachi	48.55%	Mehbooba Mufti		JKPDP	12,810	37.96%	Showkat Hussain Ganie		JKNC	4,474	13.26%	8,336
36	Shopian	52.72%	Abdul Razaq Wagay		JKPDP	8,006	21.23%	Mohammed Shafi		INC	5,208	13.81%	2,798
37	Noorabad	74.1%	Sakeena Akhtar		JKNC	16,240	35.23%	Abdul Aziz Zargar		JKPDP	11,722	25.43%	4,518
38	Kulgam	61.61%	Mohamad Yousuf Tarigami		CPI(M)	17,175	34.24%	Nazir Ahmad Laway		JKPDP	16,939	33.77%	236
39	Hom Shali Bugh	54.36%	Abdul Gafar Sofi		JKPDP	12,249	33.74%	Abdul Majeed		JKNC	7,439	20.49%	4,810
40	Anantnag	41.22%	Mufti Mohammad Sayeed		JKPDP	12,439	39.49%	Mirza Mehboob Beigh		JKNC	7,548	23.96%	4,891
41	Devsar	68.36%	Mohammed Sartaj Madni		JKPDP	14,175	26.79%	Peerzada Ghulam Ahmad		JKNC	10,174	19.23%	4,001
42	Dooru	69.83%	Ghulam Ahmad Mir		INC	15,870	36.19%	Syed Farooq Ahmad Andrabi		JKPDP	9,952	22.69%	5,918
43	Kokernag	70.35%	Peerzada Mohammad Syed		INC	13,384	26.75%	Ghulam Nabi Bhat		JKNC	12,114	24.21%	1,270
44	Shangus–Anantnag East	69.29%	Peerzada Mansoor Hussain		JKPDP	13,853	27.99%	Gulzar Ahmad Wani		INC	12,423	25.1%	1,430
45	Srigufwara–Bijbehara	60.75%	Abdul Rehman Bhat		JKPDP	23,320	49.88%	Bashir Ahmad Shah Veeri		JKNC	13,046	27.9%	10,274
46	Pahalgam	70.25%	Rafi Ahmad Mir		JKPDP	24,316	49.29%	Altaf Ahmad Wani		JKNC	13,394	27.15%	10,922
47	Nubra	71.26%	Tsetan Namgyal		Independent	4,608	53.48%	Tsewang Rigzin		INC	3,678	42.68%	930
48	Leh	61.05%	Nawang Rigzin		INC	19,008	50.5%	Thupstan Chhewang		Independent	17,485	46.45%	1,523
49	Kargil	75.05%	Qamar Ali Akhoon		JKNC	22,935	53.64%	Haji Nissar Ali		Independent	17,635	41.24%	5,300
50	Zanskar	72.2%	Feroz Ahmed Khan		JKNC	6,552	44.72%	Ghulam Raza		INC	5,634	38.45%	918
51	Kishtwar	74.46%	Sajjad Ahmad Kichloo		JKNC	19,248	37.48%	Sunil Kumar Sharma		BJP	16,783	32.68%	2,465
52	Inderwal	72.81%	Ghulam Mohammad Saroori		INC	22,684	42.67%	Shakti Raj		BJP	12,269	23.08%	10,415
53	Doda	73.05%	Abdul Majid Wani		INC	23,254	44.55%	Khalid Najib Suharwardy		JKNC	16,102	30.85%	7,152
54	Bhaderwah	65.29%	Ghulam Nabi Azad		INC	38,238	62.86%	Daya Krishan		BJP	8,802	14.47%	29,436
55	Ramban	65.59%	Ashok Kumar		INC	21,779	43.47%	Bali Bhagat		BJP	11,460	22.88%	10,319
56	Banihal	67.94%	Vikar Rasool Wani		INC	8,287	17.38%	Showket Javeed Daing		Independent	5,254	11.02%	3,033
57	Gulabgarh	77.66%	Abdul Ghani Malik		JKNC	14,268	31.28%	Haji Mumtaz Ahmad Khan		Independent	11,020	24.16%	3,248
58	Reasi	73.61%	Baldev Raj		BJP	26,031	37.01%	Jugal Kishore		INC	19,369	27.54%	6,662
59	Gool Arnas	76.7%	Ajaz Ahmed Khan		INC	15,594	37.05%	Ghulam Qadir Mughal		JKNC	12,142	28.85%	3,452
60	Udhampur	68.64%	Balwant Singh Mankotia		JKNPP	25,259	35.49%	Pawan Kumar Gupta		BJP	22,494	31.61%	2,765
61	Chenani	57.37%	Krishan Chander		INC	16,276	35.47%	Dina Nath Bhagat		BJP	9,838	21.44%	6,438
62	Ramnagar	64.54%	Harsh Dev Singh		JKNPP	30,609	47.18%	Vinod Khajuria		BSP	18,463	28.46%	12,146
63	Bani	76.09%	Lal Chand		BJP	11,041	39.57%	Ghulam Haider Malik		JKNC	8,792	31.51%	2,249
64	Basohli	69.8%	Jagdish Raj Sapolia		BJP	16,651	35.25%	Davinder Singh		JKNC	13,770	29.15%	2,881
65	Kathua	72.98%	Charanjit Singh		Independent	19,123	25.82%	Som Raj Majotra		BSP	16,761	22.63%	2,362
66	Billawar	70.9%	Manohar Lal Sharma		INC	22,262	35.78%	Satish Kumar Sharma		BJP	13,879	22.31%	8,383
67	Hiranagar	66.03%	Durga Dass		BJP	19,730	30.5%	Prem Lal		Independent	16,993	26.27%	2,737
68	Samba	72.52%	Yash Paul Kundal		JKNPP	14,631	27.15%	Satwant Kour		BJP	12,642	23.45%	1,989
69	Vijaypur	80.27%	Surjeet Singh Slathia		JKNC	21,090	27.21%	Chader Prakash Sharma		BJP	19,878	25.64%	1,212
70	Nagrota	79.33%	Jugal Kishore Sharma		BJP	11,141	22.76%	M. K. Ajat Shatru		JKNC	9,521	19.45%	1,620
71	Gandhinagar	64.15%	Raman Bhalla		INC	33,486	36.34%	Nirmal Singh		BJP	31,223	33.89%	2,263
72	Jammu East	60.71%	Ashok Kumar Khajuria		BJP	15,907	50.72%	Narender Singh		INC	5,474	17.45%	10,433
73	Jammu West	60.85%	Chaman Lal Gupta		BJP	34,288	40.26%	Surinder Singh Shangari		Independent	21,251	24.95%	13,037
74	Bishnah	75.77%	Ashwani Kumar Sharma		Independent	14,078	22.46%	Kamal Verma		BSP	13,589	21.68%	489
75	Ranbir Singh Pora–Jammu South	76.56%	Gharu Ram Bhagat		BJP	15,902	28.95%	Suman Lata Bhagat		INC	14,272	25.98%	1,630
76	Suchetgarh	79.8%	Sham Lal Choudhary		BJP	17,995	39.39%	Taranjeet Singh		JKNC	10,403	22.77%	7,592
77	Marh	81.97%	Sukh Nandan Kumar		BJP	18,368	35.04%	Ajay Sadhotra		JKNC	11,787	22.49%	6,581
78	Raipur Domana	70.55%	Bharat Bhushan		BJP	28,685	47.78%	Mulla Ram		INC	16,416	27.34%	12,269
79	Akhnoor	79.68%	Sham Lal Sharma		INC	31,600	47.97%	Govind Ram Sharma		BJP	17,716	26.89%	13,884
80	Chhamb	78.35%	Tara Chand		INC	25,335	48.59%	Chaman Lal		BJP	22,940	44.%	2,395
81	Nowshera	73.07%	Radhay Sham Sharma		JKNC	16,511	26.47%	Romesh Chander Sharma		INC	12,691	20.35%	3,820
82	Darhal	77.37%	Chowdhary Zulfkar Ali		JKPDP	19,399	28.55%	Mohammed Iqbal Malik		Independent	14,858	21.87%	4,541
83	Rajouri	70.12%	Shabir Ahmed Khan		INC	10,013	13.63%	Tasadiq Hussain		JKPDP	9,680	13.18%	333
84	Kalakote	73.32%	Rachhpal Singh		JKNC	25,314	45.62%	Ashok Kumar Sharma		Independent	13,894	25.04%	11,420
85	Surankote	74.92%	Aslam Chowdhary Mohammad		INC	28,102	44.22%	Mushtaq Ahmed Shah Bukhari		JKNC	26,051	40.99%	2,051
86	Mendhar	77.85%	Sardar Rafiq Hussain Khan		JKPDP	29,036	47.63%	Javed Ahmed Rana		JKNC	28,294	46.42%	742
87	Poonch Haveli	74.37%	Ajaz Ahmed Jan		JKNC	28,297	39.62%	Chaudhary Bashir Ahmed Naaz		INC	18,364	25.71%	9,933

Government formation

Former National Conference Chief Minister, Farooq Abdullah, said he did not want to return as it "required the energy of a younger man", and nominated his son, Omar Abdullah, and the head of the Jammu & Kashmir National Conference instead.^[13]

Congress debated forming a coalition with either Conference or the PDP. It was reported that the PDP had offered to support a Congress candidate for Chief Minister if they joined with them. However, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress chairperson Sonia Gandhi were reported to favor the largest party to "honor the mandate" of the election.^[14]

On 30 December Congress and the National Conference agreed to form a coalition government, with Omar Abdullah as Chief Minister.^[15]