J&K polls: CM Omar Abdullah loses Sonwar; wins Beerwah

NEW DELHI: J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah lost his Sonwar seat in the state's assembly polls. Tweeting about the same, Omar Abdullah said, "Congratulations to Ashraf Mir for his victory in Sonwar. I wish him & the people all good luck for the next 6 years. He's now my local MLA."

However, Addullah, who had contested from two seats, won the Beerwah Assembly seat by a margin of over 1000 seats. The National Conference leader began his debut in the state politics with a defeat from Ganderbal Assembly seat in 2002.

Congratulations to Ashraf Mir for his victory in Sonwar. I wish him & the people all good luck for the next 6 years. He's now my local MLA.

— Omar Abdullah (@abdullah_omar) December 23, 2014

Abdullah's National Conference, which was the single largest party in 2008 assembly polls with 28 seats, bagged seven seats and was leading in eight others.

Jammu and Kashmir was heading for a hung Assembly with PDP emerging as the single largest party by bagging 14 seats and leading in 16 while BJP also made gains by winning 18 seats and was ahead on 7, all in Jammu, but it failed to make inroads in the Valley.

Among the prominent winners were People's Democratic Party patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed from Anantnag and former JK Bank chairman Haseeb Drabu from Pulawama as the party swept all four Assembly seats in Pulwama district.

Separatist turned mainstream politician Sajjad Gani Lone defeated National Conference minister Choudhary Mohammad Ramzan from Handwara.

Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand of Congress lost to BJP's Krishan Lal from Chamb constituency by a margin of 14,790 votes.

Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami (CPIM) was trailing by 200 votes against PDP candidate Nazir Ahmad Laway from Kulgam constituency.

The lone woman minister in Omar Abdullah government, Sakina Itoo of National Conference, was trailing by over 4000 votes against PDP candidate Abdul Majid Padder.

(With inputs from PTI)