J-K Elections: Ravinder Raina Loses Nowshera Seat Against NC Candidate With Margin Of 7,819 Votes

NC's Surinder Kumar Choudhary got 35,069 votes while NC's Surinder Kumar Choudhary got 27,250 votes. The BJP leader was seeking to retain his stronghold in the 2024 elections with even bigger margin.

Ravinder Raina, the chief of the BJP in Jammu and Kashmir, lost the Nowshera assembly seat against National Conference candidate with a margin of 7,819 votes.

Raina, who was leading in the initial rounds of counting, lost his seat to Surinder Kumar Choudhary.  

National Conference's Surinder Kumar Choudhary got 35,069 votes while NC's Surinder Kumar Choudhary got 27,250 votes. The firebrand BJP leader was seeking to retain his stronghold in the 2024 elections with an even bigger vote share.

Reacting to the mandate, the BJP leader conceded defeat and said he has accepted the verdict of people. "I have accepted the verdict of the people. I thank them for their support," Raina told PTI.

Thanking people for showing their support to the BJP, 47-year-old party leader said, "We thank the people for voting and supporting the BJP in Jammu and Kashmir. The BJP has achieved an all-time high with a record number of 29 assembly seats. We express our heartfelt gratitude to the electorate."

Earlier in 2014 assembly elections, Raina won the seat by defeating Choudhary by a margin of 9,503 votes. Raina had secured 37,374 votes polling a 49.51 per cent vote share.

According to the latest Election Commission data, BJP has won 26 seats and was leading in 3 others, while the Jammu & Kashmir National Conference won 36 seats and was leading in 6 others. The Congress has won 6 seats.  

Raina first entered the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly as an MLA from the Nowshera constituency at the age of 37. Prior to that, he was elected president of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJP Youth Wing) at 34 and later became the president of the Jammu and Kashmir BJP at 41. BJP has for the first time won 29 seats in Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections.

Nowshera is constituency number 84 of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly and falls in the Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha constituency. The PDP, BJP and NC were the main parties in the constituency. The constituency went to the polls in the second phase on September 25, along with the other 25 constituencies of the UT, including Reasi and Rajouri.