DDC polls strike rate: NC, PDP fare better than BJP

While the BJP may have emerged as the single largest party in the just concluded DDC elections in Jammu and Kashmir, the strike rate (proportion of contested seats won) of the regional parties – National Conference and PDP – was much higher than the saffron party.

The NC won 67 seats out of the 164 it contested and the PDP emerged victorious on 27 seats out of the 68 seats on which it fielded its candidates. The strike rate of the NC and the PDP was 40.9% and 39.7% respectively.

On the other hand, the BJP’s 75 wins out of the 230 candidates meant its strike rate was under 32.6%. The Congress fared the worst, winning just 26 of the 160 seats it contested with a strike rate of just 16%.

The newly floated Apni Party, believed to be a proxy of the BJP, was the worst performer in terms of the winning percentage as it managed to win only seven per cent of the seats it contested. The party bagged just 12 seats out of 170 seats it contested.

People's Conference, headed by separatist-turned-mainstream politician Sajad Lone, outsmarted all the other parties in the winning percentage as it emerged winner on 80 per cent of seats it contested. The party won eight seats out of the 10 it contested.

The CPM was the second-best performer in winning percentage as its strike rate stood at 71.4% after the party won five out of the seven seats it contested.

The BJP, however, had the highest contested vote share in the Jammu region and the lowest among big parties in Kashmir valley which is crucial statistics to understand the fault lines in Jammu and Kashmir’s politics. But in reality, the BJP’s vote share in Jammu, when plotted against the vote shares registered during parliamentary and assembly elections in the past, has declined from 59% to 34%.

Among all states and Union territories, Jammu and Kashmir is the only one with a Muslim majority. While Muslims comprise 96.4% of the population in 10 districts of Kashmir, Hindus comprise 62.6% of Jammu’s population, according to the 2011 Census.