'Doing Good Work': Arvind Kejriwal Speaks To AAP's First J-K MLA Mehraj Malik On Video Call

AAP candidate Mehraj Malik defeated his nearest rival BJP's Gajay Singh Rana in the Doda constituency by a margin of 4,538 votes, winning the party its maiden seat in Jammu Kashmir

Jammu Kashmir Election Result: It was historic day for the Aam Aadmi Party on Tuesday as it secured its maiden victory in the Jammu and Kashmir elections. Despite not being able to register even a single seat in Haryana, the party managed to win a seat in J&K after its Doda candidate Mehraj Malik defeated the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress-NC alliance.

Mehraj Malik wrested the Doda seat from his nearest rival BJP's Gajay Singh Rana by a margin of 4,538 votes. Following the big win, AAP's national convenor Arvind Kejriwal video called Malik to congratulate him. "The workers are very happy that now we have an AAP MLA in Jammu and Kashmir," Kejriwal told Malik.

With this maiden win in J&K, AAP, which is in power in Delhi and Punjab, now has MLAs in five states/UTs. The party also has MLAs in Gujarat and Goa. AAP had fielded seven candidates out of 90 assembly segments in Jammu and Kashmir.

Kejriwal praised Malik for "doing very good work" and said that the "people are with you". Responding to this, Mehraj Malik thanked Kejriwal and also extended him an invitation to visit Kashmir on Thursday, October 10 for an event.

"Sir, you have to be here on October 10 as I had communicated through Sanjayji. After my victory, the people of Doda deserve a visit by you. On 10th at 2 pm, we will wait for you. The public here will wait for you," the AAP leader said.

The former Delhi Chief Minister accepted his invitation and assured him that he would visit Kashmir on October 10. "I will come. I will come for sure on the 10th," the AAP national convenor said. Malik also requested Kejriwal to stay on the line as he had gone to collect his victory certificate from the returning officer in Doda. Kejriwal was on line and watched Malik receive his certificate on the video call.

Earlier today, Kejriwal also congratulated Malik on his won in a post on X. "Many congratulations on the grand victory of AAP candidate from Doda Mehraj Malik against the BJP. You fought the election very well. Congratulations to the entire party for having an MLA in the fifth state," Kejriwal wrote in a Hindi post on X.

Who Is Mehraj Malik?

Mehraj Malik is a District Development Council (DDC) member. The 36-year-old leader joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in 2013 and was elected as a DDC member from Kahara in 2020.

He polled 23,228 votes against BJP's Gajay Singh Rana's 18,690 votes. He also defeated 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 finished fifth, securing 4,170 votes.

On October 17, 2022, he was appointed by the AAP as co-chairman of its state coordination committee in Jammu and Kashmir.

Malik contested the Lok Sabha elections as an independent candidate for the Udhampur-Kathua Lok Sabha seat. However, he could not win and finished fourth, receiving 9,082 votes.

This was not the first time he contested the assembly elections in J&K. In 2014, he contested from the Bhaderwah constituency, but secured merely 365 votes. The seat was won by BJP's Daleep Singh.

In Jammu and Kashmir, the National Conference (NC) and Congress is tipped to form a coalition government. The alliance won 49 of 90 seats in the J&K assembly, leading over BJP's 29 seat-mark, as showed by the Election Commission data. A party is needed to secure 46 seats or more to attain majority.

The next Chief Minister of Jammu Kashmir, the first since the abrogation of Article 370, will be JKNC Vice President Omar Abdullah.