BJP wins 3 DDC seats in first-ever victory in the Kashmir valley

Since the 2014 Assembly elections, BJP has been trying make inroads in the valley

Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) opened its account in any election held in the Kashmir valley for the first time on Tuesday as three of its candidates emerged victorious in district development council (DDC) polls.

The saffron party’s Minha Lateef won a seat from Kakpora of restive Pulwama district while Engineer Aijaz Hussain won from the Khonmoh-II constituency in Balhama area of Srinagar. Aijaz Ahmed won the third seat for the BJP in Tulail area of northern Bandipore district.

Since the 2014 Assembly elections, the BJP has been trying hard to make inroads in the Muslim majority Kashmir valley. However, it could not open an account in the valley in any elections till now. This is for the first time that the saffron party made its presence felt in the electoral politics of Kashmir valley.

The BJP had sent former union minister and the party’s Muslim face, Shahnawaz Hussain to Kashmir for campaigning during the DDC polls. Hussain travelled extensively to almost all the DDC constituencies in Kashmir in the past few weeks.