Jammu & Kashmir Election Results: The BJP candidate from Kishtwar, Shagun Parihar, won by a thin margin of 521 votes. Parihar fought the election against National Conference's Sajjad Ahmed Kichloo, and Firdous Ahmed Tak from the People's Democratic Party. Parihar's father Ajit Parihar and uncle Anil Parihar were shot dead by terrorists in November 2018.
While Parihar bagged 29,053 votes, her closest rival Kichloo got 28,532 votes, followed by Jammu & Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party's Firdoos Ahmed Tak who secured 997 votes.
The voting for the Kishtwar seat came under the lens of security forces after a scuffle between the supporters of the BJP candidate and her opponents broke out. Parihar had then alleged that she was manhandled by the opponents' supporters.
The Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections were held in three phases on September 18, 25, and October 1. The Union Territory has an electoral roll of 88,66,704 voters, of whom 63.88 per cent turned out to cast their ballots. The last time elections were held in Jammu and Kashmir in 2014 and recorded a 58.58 per cent turnout in the Lok Sabha elections. The elections for the 90-member Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly took place in three phases on September 18, September 25, and October 1, achieving a voter turnout of 63.88 per cent. This represents an increase from the 58.58 per cent turnout during the recent Lok Sabha elections, although it falls short of the 65.52 per cent recorded in the 2014 assembly elections.
Counting of the votes commenced at 8 AM and is expected to conclude by 6 PM, with heightened security measures in place. A three-tier security system has been established at all 20 counting centres throughout Jammu and Kashmir to ensure a smooth counting process in this sensitive region, which has a history of political and social unrest.