Cong, Panthers Party jubilate as BJP, NC go down

JAMMU: The results of the assembly elections have stunned the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) partners, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the ruling National Conference (NC), even as they have brought cheers for the Congress and the Panthers Party of Bhim Singh.
While the Congress has improved its tally in the Jammu region from six to 15, a gain of nine seats, the Panthers Party has gained three seats and taken its tally from one to four in the new assembly.Incidentally, both the Congress and the Panthers Party have gained at the expense of the NC and the BJP. The Congress won no less than four seats in Jammu district (Jammu east, Jammu west, Gandhinagar and Suchetgarh) at the expense of the NC.
Panthers Party, on the other hand, wrested the Samba seat in Jammu district from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Udhampur and Chenani seats in Udhampur district from the BJP.
According to Panthers Party chief Bhim Singh, all the four newly-elected legislators of his party would work for the creation of the state of Jammu and support the demand of Union Territory (UT) status for the Ladakh region.
He said the results clearly proved that the voters have rejected the dynastic rule of the Abdullahs in the state and wanted a change. He said his party would work closely for the restoration of peace in the state.
Most Congress leaders, on the other hand, said that they wanted to first and foremost thank the voters for having reposed faith in the party while rejecting the Abdullahs.
Ghulam Nabi Azad said his party had solved insurgency problem in Assam, Mizoram and Punjab. Similarly, its wide experience would stand it in good stead when it forms a government in the state with its allies in the coming days.
While thanking the voters of the state for backing his party, Azad said it was now clear that they were tired of the corrupt NC regime and have thus booted it out. When the trends starting becoming available early in the morning, Congress supporters started gathering at the party headquarter located here near Shahidi Chowk. Some of them brought garlands with them while others carried slogans in favour of the winning candidates in Urdu, Hindi and English.
There was a wild roar when Azad arrived here from Srinagar in the afternoon and workers jostled with one another for shaking hands with him and congratulating him personally. The Congress workers said Azad’s tireless campaigning and his organisational skills were responsible for the party’s good show at the hustings.
In sharp contrast, the BJP office wore a gloomy look as there were very few senior leaders present there. Union minister of state for defence Chaman Lal Gupta visited the party office but did not stay there very long.
He admitted, though in an indirect manner, that party’s internal problems and its alliance at the Centre with the ruling NC damaged the chances of its candidates.
Trying to keep a brave front, the party’s state general secretary Nirmal Kumar Singh faced the cameras of different television channels as reporters asked him the reasons for his party’s dismal performance. Incidentally, the party’s tally has gone down from eight in the outgoing assembly to just two in the new assembly that would be constituted within the next couple of days.