As the polling in the Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections nears, all parties have intensified their campaigns. The elections for the assembly are going to take place after a long time, besides, the emergence of small parties and their rising influence has made the contest more interesting. These parties, though small, can become kingmakers and can also spoil the game of big parties. These include the People's Conference (PC), Apni Party, Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) and Awami Ittehad Party.
People's Conference (PC)
Founded five decades ago by Abdul Ghani Lone, the People's Conference (PC) is now led by his son and former minister Sajjad Lone. During the years of militancy, the PC did not contest elections and also lost its election symbol. Its fortunes changed when Sajjad Lone was elected from Handwara in the 2014 assembly elections. The party also won Kupwara and joined hands with the PDP-BJP coalition government. Lone remained a cabinet minister until the government fell.
After the abrogation of Article 370, Lone tried to expand his party's base by luring leaders from other organisations. He contested the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from Baramulla but faced defeat. The upcoming assembly elections are crucial for the party as it is contesting 22 seats.
Apni Party
Former minister Altaf Bukhari formed his party soon after the abrogation of Article 370 and was the first politician from Jammu and Kashmir to lead a delegation to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. The assembly elections are going to be the litmus test for the Apni Party, which is contesting 60 assembly seats (40 in Kashmir and 20 in Jammu). The party had suffered a setback during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections when both its candidates lost their deposits in Srinagar and Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha seats.
Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP)
Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, who parted ways with Congress, formed his new party Azad's Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) and made a fresh start at the J&K political landscape in September 2022. Azad ended his five-decade-long association with the Congress. However, the DPAP, which he wanted to project as an "alternative" to regional forces like the NC and the PDP, failed its first political test, with all its three candidates in the 2024 Lok Sabha election losing their deposits.
Awami Ittehad Party
Baramulla MP Engineer Rashid founded the Awami Ittehad Party in 2012. The firebrand leader from north Kashmir was elected to the J&K Assembly as an independent from Langate in 2009 and 2014. He contested the Lok Sabha elections for the first time in 2019 and managed to secure over 1 lakh votes. In a big surprise, he contested the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from Tihar jail and defeated NC vice-president Omar Abdullah and PC president Sajad Lone by a big margin in Baramulla. After being released on interim bail from Tihar, Rashid has been campaigning across Kashmir. He has a lot of influence among the youth.
Possibility of hung assembly
As the J-K assembly has 90 seats and the contest has become multipolar in various constituencies, it may yield a hung assembly. In the last elections in 2014 also, elections yielded a hung assembly, despite fewer contesting parties. Eventually, the BJP entered into an alliance with the PDP, in what was an imagined coalition.
In upcoming elections, the number of contesting parties has increased and the small parties are having a significant influence over the voters. This was evident from Baramula Lok Sabha contest, where Engineer Rashid registered a dominating victory over former CM Omar Abdullah. So, if the the polls mandate a hung assembly and big parties fail to reach the 46 mark, these small parties, based on their numbers could possibly play the role of kingmakers in forming the government.
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