Behind the National Conference’s resurgence, the judgement of the Kashmiri voter

The first Assembly elections held in Jammu and Kashmir – five years after the Narendra Modi government summarily downsized it from a state into a union territory and scrapped Article 370 – have brought about a turnaround in the fortunes of the National Conference.

With 42 seats, it has emerged as the single largest party and is set to form the government with the Congress’s support. In the last Assembly elections held in 2014, when Jammu and Kashmir was still a state, the National Conference had won only 15 seats.

While the alliance was expected to do well in these elections, few had anticipated the resurgence of the National Conference in such a big way. Even the party seemed surprised by the verdict. “Voters have given us more votes than our expectations,” Omar Abdullah, party vice-president and chief minister-designate, told reporters on Tuesday.

But observers argue that the verdict is a reflection not so much of the National Conference’s political nous but the Kashmiri voter’s canny reading of the situation and her determination that the mandate should not be fractured.

“People put their faith in the National Conference not because they deserved it but because they thought it was the best option available,” said Noor...

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