J&K Election Results: Shagun Parihar, Niece Of Slain BJP Leader, Leads In Kishtwar

In the Jammu & Kashmir Assembly elections, BJP candidate Shagun Parihar trails in early trends in Kishtwar, where she faced off against National Conference's Sajjad Kichloo and PDP's Firdous Ahmed.

Jammu & Kashmir: BJP candidate from Kishtwar Shagun Parihar was trailing in the early trends of vote counting. The Kishtwar seat is fought for by the BJP's Shagun Parihar, the National Conference's Sajjad Ahmed Kichloo, and Firdous Ahmed Tak from the People's Democratic Party.

The voting for the Kishtwar seat came under the lens of security forces after a scuffle between the supporters of Shaugun Parihar and her opponents broke out. Shagun had then alleged that she was manhandled by the opponents' supporters.

Shagun Parihar's father Ajit Parihar and uncle Anil Parihar were shot dead by terrorists in November 2018.

Overall, the BJP was trailing the National Conference-Congress alliance in Jammu and Kashmir. However, the contest was very close in the early trends.

Early trends of counting in Jammu and Kashmir showed Jammu and Kashmir headed towards a hung assembly as neither the PDP, nor the BJP, nor the Congress-NC alliance looked to be able to secure a majority.

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% turned out to cast their ballots. The last time elections were held in Jammu and Kashmir in 2014 and recorded a 58.58% 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%. This represents an increase from the 58.58% turnout during the recent Lok Sabha elections, although it falls short of the 65.52% 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.