SRINAGAR: Ten years after the 2014 Assembly polls and five years after Article 370 abrogation, the BJP has been unable to make inroads into Muslim-dominated Kashmir as its influence is confined to seven districts of the Jammu region in the Assembly polls. This is a worrying sign for the saffron party’s ‘Naya Kashmir’ narrative and indicates “acceptability” issue in the Valley.Almost conversely, the Congress won only six Assembly seats in J&K, including one from the Jammu region. The big question for Congress remains whether it missed the opportunity by not campaigning aggressively enough in the elections in the Jammu region, where it was in a direct fight with the BJP.For the BJP, the situation is similar to 2014 when it won all its 25 seats from the Jammu region. It means the situation is no different. The BJP contested all 43 seats in Jammu region in 2024 Assembly polls. It left 19 out of 47 seats in Kashmir to smaller parties and individuals backed by it. The party has secured 29 seats, all from Jammu region. The turncoats, who joined the party ahead of the polls, could not win in the Muslim-dominated areas.The poll results show the BJP could not open account in Ramban and Poonch districts and secured only one seat in another hilly and border district of Rajouri. Even J&K BJP chief Ravindra Raina, who is at the helm for over five years, could not win from his home constituency Nowshera in Rajouri district and lost to NC’s Surinder Kumar Chowdhary.
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