Anti-Modi alliance sweeps IIOJ&K local bodies polls

NEW DELHI: A coalition of Kashmiri parties opposed to India’s annexation last year by the state was poised to sweep local body polls against the Bharatiya Janata Party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and said it was a verdict to overturn the arbitrary rule of New Delhi in the city, reports said.

In order to settle the Kashmir conflict, the Farooq Abdullah-led People’s Coalition for Gupkar Declaration, which was headed for a huge win in local polls, favoured talks between India and Pakistan. Regional parties surged ahead in the valley in the first ever District Development Council (DDC) polls conducted while the BJP retained an upper hand in the Jammu region.

The Gupkar alliance, a coalition of seven mainstream IIOJ&K-based parties including rivals National Conference and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) of Mehbooba Mufti, was ahead in 114 seats in recent leads; the BJP led in 72 seats. At 26, Congress was ahead.

The BJP is leading in the Jammu area with 69 seats while the Gupkar alliance is winning 35. The regional grouping leads in a mammoth of 79 seats in Indian Occupied Kashmir, while the BJP is ahead in three.

In eight stages over a span of 25 days, votes were taken in 280 seats, 14 in each of the 20 districts of the union territory. Thirteen district councils are likely to be won by the Gupkar alliance and Congress, while the BJP and its allies are expected to rule over six districts. Abdullah, Omar Abdullah, and Mehbooba Mufti, both former chief ministers, say that they were not permitted to campaign.