It was a bittersweet day for the Aam Aadmi Party. As the Election Commission figures indicated that it may not win even a single seat in Haryana, the party found its silver lining in Jammu and Kashmir.
The Aam Aadmi Party or AAP registered its first victory in assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir where its candidate Mehraj Malik defeated his nearest rival from the BJP in the Doda constituency by a margin of 4,538 votes.
To congratulate Mr Malik, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal video called him. “The workers are very happy that now we have an AAP MLA in Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.
AAP, in power in Delhi and Punjab, also has MLAs in Gujarat and Goa. In Jammu and Kashmir, it had fielded seven candidates out of 90 assembly segments.
Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir election results live updates here.
Mr Kejriwal praised Mr Malik for “doing good work” and said, “People are with you”.
Mehraj Malik thanked him and also extended him an invitation to visit Kashmir on Thursday. “On 10th at 2 pm, we will wait for you. The public here will wait for you.”
The Delhi Chief Minister accepted his invitation and promised to visit on October 10. “I will come. I will come for sure on the 10th,” he said.
The jubilant leader also requested Mr Kejriwal to stay on the line as he collected his certificate from the returning officer.
Mr Malik, a District Development Council (DDC) member, polled 23,228 votes against BJP’s Gajay Singh Rana’s 18,690 votes. National Conference leader and former minister Khalid Najib Suharwardy and DPAP leader Abdul Majid Wani got 13,334 and 10,027 votes, respectively. Congress candidate Sheikh Riaz Ahmad was pushed to the fifth place having secured 4,170 votes.
He unsuccessfully contested Lok Sabha elections from Udhampur constituency early this year.
In Jammu and Kashmir, which had its first assembly elections since 2014, the alliance of the National Conference (NC) and Congress is tipped to form the government.
NC and Congress had won 47 of 90 seats in the assembly, an unassailable lead over BJP’s 27, the Election Commission data showed. The halfway mark is 46.
