The Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly election, 2014 was held in the

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n state of Jammu and Kashmir in five phases from 25 November – 20 December 2014. Voters elected 87 members to the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly, which ends its six-year term on 19 January 2015. The results were declared on 23 December 2014.

Voter-verified paper audit trail Voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) or verified paper record (VPR) is a method of providing feedback to voters using a ballotless voting system. A VVPAT is intended as an independent verification system for voting machines designed to allow ...

(VVPAT) along with EVMs were used in 3 assembly seats out of 87 in Jammu Kashmir elections.

Background and campaign

Before the election,

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British E ...

broke its alliance with

Jammu and Kashmir National Conference The Jammu & Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) is a regional political party in the Indian union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. Founded as the ''All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference'' by Sheikh Abdullah and Chaudhry Ghulam Ab ...

and contested on all seats in the assembly. Campaigning before the elections were aggressive and robust. Following the huge victory of

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Mod ...

in the Indian parliamentary election, the BJP turned its attention towards J&K and campaigned on the promise of 'development'. This included a visit from the Prime Minister of India,

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (; born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament fro ...

in support of the local BJP campaign.

Boycott Calls

*Hardline separatist

All Parties Hurriyat Conference All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) is an alliance of 26 political, social and religious organizations formed on 9 March 1993, as a united political front to raise the cause of Kashmiri separatism in the Kashmir conflict. Mehmood Ahmed Sagh ...

leader

Syed Ali Shah Geelani Syed Ali Shah Geelani (1929–2021) was an Islamist, pro-Pakistan, Sumantra BoseSyed Ali Shah Geelani: The man who fought for Kashmir’s freedom BBC News, 2 September 2021. "First, he made it clear that although a proud Kashmiri, he conside ...

had appealed to people of Kashmir to boycott the 2014 Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly elections completely, arguing that "India has been holding elections in the Valley using the power of the gun and so such an exercise is not legitimate." He added, "My appeal to the youth, in particular, is that the sacrifices rendered by the people must be safeguarded and, hence, in no way should vote during elections." *Separatists were propagating the poll boycott campaign through video clips on social networking sites and applications, including

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...

and

WhatsApp WhatsApp (also called WhatsApp Messenger) is an internationally available freeware, cross-platform, centralized instant messaging (IM) and voice-over-IP (VoIP) service owned by American company Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook). It allows use ...

. *A four-minute video clip has gone viral on social sites with messages of chairmen of both hardline and moderate factions of Hurriyat Conference and Dukhtaran-e-Millat chief Asiya Andrabi. The video message sent through WhatsApp and shared on Facebook and Twitter asked the people to boycott the coming polls. *Video also showed Hurriyat hawk

addressing a gathering via phone urging youth not to undermine the mission of 'martyrs'. Moderate Hurriyat chairman

Mirwaiz Umar Farooq Mirwaiz Mohammad Umar Farooq (born 23 March 1973) is the Mirwaiz of Kashmir. He is an Islamist, Separatist Political Leader of Kashmir. He is the Islamic Religious Cleric of Kashmir Valley. In October 2014, Farooq has listed as one of The ...

is seen posing for the camera with the appeal that polls must be boycotted 'en masse'. Despite these calls, voter turnout in the 2014 elections instead increased by 4%, from roughly 61% in the previous election to 65%.

Voting

The polls were carried out in five phases. Despite several boycott calls by hurriyat leaders, elections recorded highest voters turnout in last 25 years. Voters turnout was more than 65% which is higher than usual voting percentage in other states of

The

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

, on the behalf of

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

, welcomed the smooth conduct of the State Legislative Elections in the Jammu and Kashmir. The EU in its message said that, "The high voter turnout figure proves that democracy is firmly rooted in India. The EU would like to congratulate India and its democratic system for conduct of fair elections, unmarred by violence, in the state of Jammu and Kashmir". The European Parliament also takes cognizance of the fact that a large number of Kashmiri voters turned out despite calls for the boycott of elections by certain separatist forces. However, elected Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed said, "If God forbid the Hurriyat and the militants tried to disrupt the elections there would not have been as participative as they had been. They (Pakistan) also allowed these elections to take place." Ruling Party president Mehbooba Mufti also defended Mufti's remarks. While taking a dig at Mufti's statement former

Chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir The Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir was the title given to the head of government of Jammu and Kashmir. As per the Constitution of India, the Lieutenant Governor is the state's ''de jure'' head, but ''de facto'' executive authority rests wit ...

and leader of opposition in

Rajya Sabha The Rajya Sabha, constitutionally the Council of States, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. , it has a maximum membership of 245, of which 233 are elected by the legislatures of the states and union territories using si ...

Ghulam Nabi Azad Ghulam Nabi Azad (born 7 March 1949) is an Indian politician who served as Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha between 2014 to 2021. He also served as the Chief Minister of erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir from 2005 to 2008. On 26 September ...

said that, "In fact, Pakistan and militant groups tried their best to destabilize the democratic process in the state."

Results

, - ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" , Party ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" , Seats ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" , Previously ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" , +/– ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" , Vote % ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" , Vote Share , - , style="text-align:left;" , People's Democratic Party , style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" , 28 , style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" , 21 , style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" , +7 , style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" , 22.7% , style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" , 10,92,203 , - , style="text-align:left;" ,

, style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" , 25 , style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" , 11 , style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" , +14 , style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" , 23.0% , style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" , 11,07,194 , - , style="text-align:left;" , National Conference , style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" , 15 , style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" , 28 , style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" , -13 , style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" , 20.8% , style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" , 10,00,693 , - , style="text-align:left;" ,

, style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" , 12 , style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" , 17 , style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" , -5 , style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" , 18.0% , style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" , 8,67,883 , - , style="text-align:left;" ,

Jammu & Kashmir People's Conference The Jammu and Kashmir People's Conference is a political party in Jammu and Kashmir, India, founded by Abdul Ghani Lone and Molvi Iftikhar Hussain Ansari in 1978. It is currently led by Sajjad Lone. It won two seats in the Jammu and Kashmir ...

, style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" , 2 , style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" , 0 , style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" , +2 , style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" , 1.9% , style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" , , - , style="text-align:left;" ,

Communist Party of India (Marxist) The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (abbreviated as CPI(M)/CPIM/CPM) is a Marxist–Leninist communist political party in India. It is the largest communist party of India in terms of membership and electoral seats and one of the na ...

, style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" , 1 , style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" , 1 , style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" , 0 , style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" , 0.5% , style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" , , - , style="text-align:left;" , Jammu and Kashmir People's Democratic Front , style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" , 0 , style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" , 0 , style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" , 0 , style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" , , style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" , , - , style="text-align:left;" , Jammu & Kashmir National Panthers Party , style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" , 0 , style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" , 3 , style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" , -3 , style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" , , style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" , , - , style="text-align:left;" , People's Democratic Front , style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" , 1 , style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" , 1 , style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" , 0 , style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" , - , style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" , - , - , style="text-align:left;" , Jammu & Kashmir Democratic Party Nationalist , style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" , 0 , style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" , 1 , style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" , -1 , style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" , % , style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" , , - , style="text-align:left;" , Independents , style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" , 3 , style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" , 4 , style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" , -1 , style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" , % , style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" , , - , style="text-align:left;background-color:#E9E9E9" , Total (turnout 65.23%) ! style="text-align:right;background-color:#E9E9E9", 87 ! style="text-align:right;background-color:#E9E9E9", 87 ! style="text-align:right;background-color:#E9E9E9", ! style="text-align:right;background-color:#E9E9E9", - ! style="text-align:right;background-color:#E9E9E9", - , - ! colspan="9" , , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="2" , Valid votes , align="right" , 48,17,981 , align="right" , 99.90 , colspan="4" rowspan="5" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" , , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="2" , Invalid votes , align="right" , 4,795 , align="right" , 0.10 , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="2" , Votes cast / turnout , align="right" , 48,22,776 , align="right" , 65.91 , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="2" , Abstentions , align="right" , 24,94,170 , align="right" , 34.09 , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="2" , Registered voters , align="right" , 73,16,946 , colspan="1" style="background-color:#E9E9E9", , - , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan=12 , Source: Election Commission of India PDP became the single largest party with 28 seats. BJP became the second largest party with 25 seats. Omar Abdullah resigned as a chief minister on 24 December 2014.

Elected Members

Government formation

Three days after the results, the JKNC approached the BJP for a meeting to try and form a government. As part of the deal,

Nirmal Kumar Singh Dr Nirmal Kumar Singh is an Indian politician and was the last Speaker of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly of the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir State. He is a former Deputy Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir. He is a leader of Bharatiya ...

was to be the chief minister and JKNC's MLA

Ali Mohammad Sagar Ali Mohammad Sagar is an Indian Politician and was a member of Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly elected in 2014 from Khanyar in Srinagar district as a candidate of Jammu & Kashmir National Conference. He was Minister of Rural Developmen ...

was to be his deputy. The deal fell through after a revolt in the JKNC. The BJP also rejected this deal, citing morality issues. In the following days, the JKNC also announced its intention to support the PDP from outside by submitting a letter to the governor Narinder Nath Vohra after the dialogue with the BJP fell through. The PDP refused. A week after the results, the PDP and the BJP officially started talks. Both parties had a two-member team to form a Common Minimum Programme (CMP). The PDP was represented by Naeem Akhtar and Haseeb Drabu, while Ram Madhav and Nirmal Kumar Singh represented the BJP. Minister of State in the PMO, Jitendra Singh, supervised the dialogue.

Omar Abdullah Omar Abdullah (; born 10 March 1970) is an Indian politician and former Chief Minister of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. He became the 11th and the youngest Chief Minister of the State of Jammu and Kashmir, after forming a governme ...

resigned as chief minister on 24 December. The Governor accepted his resignation but asked him to continue in an interim capacity until the formation of a new government. President's rule was imposed on 1 January 2015. After dealing with issues, both parties turned their attention to the composition of the cabinet. The PDP was initially reluctant for a three-year rotation of the chief minister's post but later agreed. There were also issues related to the joining of the government by separatist-turned-politician Sajjad Lone. In the run-up to the election, he met Prime Minister

and praised him by calling him "big brother." The BJP reciprocated by not running a candidate against Lone for the Handwara seat, from where he won, and got elected to the assembly for the first time. Both parties announced on 25 February that the CMP was almost ready, in a joint press conference called by BJP national President Amit Shah and PDP President

Mehbooba Mufti Mehbooba may refer to * ''Mehbooba'' (1976 film), a Hindi-language film * ''Mehbooba'' (2008 film), a Hindi-language romance film * ''Mehbooba'' (2018 film), a Telugu-language film *Mehbooba Mahnoor Chandni Mehbooba Mahnoor Chandni, known as Chan ...

. They also stated that the ideological differences had been "ironed out" and both parties were now working on the formation of a cabinet. The dialogue between both parties ended successfully on 18 February - two months and 5 days after the beginning of talks. The new PDP-BJP government took the oath of office on 1 March in the Zorawar Singh Stadium of Jammu, with Mufti Mohammad Sayeed as chief minister for the full term of six years and Nirmal Kumar Singh as his deputy. Modi was also present for the occasion. Twelve cabinet ministers from each party were also sworn-in. This was the first time that the BJP was a coalition partner in the Jammu and Kashmir government. Lone and independent MLA for Udhampur, Pawan Kumar Gupta, were also sworn-in as cabinet ministers from the BJP's quota. The CMP was then released in a press conference. The CMP gave a vision of the "all-around development of Jammu and Kashmir" and "Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas" (with everyone, everyone's development). Contentious issues like

Article 370 Article 370 of the Indian constitution gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, a region located in the northern part of Indian subcontinent and part of the larger region of Kashmir which has been the subject of a dispute between India, Pa ...

and AFSPA would be referred to a high-power committee, with representation from both parties and civil society. The PDP also agreed to join the NDA's central, with Mehbooba Mufti's induction into the union cabinet, at a later date, and also support the Modi government in both houses of parliament.

References

External links

Website of the Election Commission of India
{{Jammu and Kashmir

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

2010s in Jammu and Kashmir 2014 State Assembly elections in India April 2014 events in India