J&K local body polls: BJP wins seats in Kashmir Valley, Congress sweeps Leh

The BJP has won seats in municipal councils and committees in the Kashmir Valley for the first time, according to results of the four-phase urban local body elections in Jammu and Kashmir. Counting began early on Saturday under heavy security. The Congress won two major councils in Kashmir and all seats in Leh, while independents dominated the Srinagar Municipal Corporation.

Results across the state

• Jammu Municipal Corporation: the BJP emerged as the single largest party.
• Srinagar Municipal Corporation: of 74 wards, eight were uncontested. In the 66 that voted, independents won 49, Congress 12 and the BJP four. BJP leaders claimed many winning independents were linked to party allies.
• Baramulla: Congress won 12 seats and the BJP six in the 21-member council.
• Anantnag: Congress took 20 of 23 wards, the BJP three.
• Uri: independents won 7 and Congress six in the 13-member committee; the BJP won none.
• Bandipore: Congress won 13 of 17 seats.
• Handwara: all 13 seats went to independents aligned with Sajjad Lone; in Kupwara district, independents linked to his Peoples Conference and to Riyaz Ahmad Mir won most seats.
• Leh and Kargil: Congress swept all 13 seats in Leh and won five wards in Kargil, where independents took nine. The BJP drew a blank in both.
• BJP wins elsewhere: all eight seats in Devsar; eight unopposed seats in Watergam; four of seven wards in Qazigund; seven of 13 seats uncontested in Pahalgam; and most seats in Shopian (12) and Pulwama, where no voting took place.

BJP general secretary Ram Madhav tweeted that the party had won 97 wards in the Valley, including 25 in Baramulla, 29 in Anantnag and 12 in Shopian.

Low turnout and boycotts

The NC and the PDP stayed out of the polls, objecting to what they described as the government tying the polls for local bodies and panchayats to the Article 35A issue. Separatists and militants called for a boycott. Turnout in Kashmir was 4.2 %, against 62.1 % in Ladakh and 68.7 % in Jammu.

Reaction

BJP president Amit Shah said the party had won the trust of people in the state, and tweeted that the results showed voters wanted to move away from “politics of strife” towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s development agenda.

See also: Election news

Originally published on 22 October 2018. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.

Share on Facebook

Tweet

Follow us