December 29th, 2008 
Aman 
Results As the counting of votes for the Jammu and Kashmir assembly polls was under process it became clear that the state is once again set to face a coalition government. As the counting progressed , Farooq Abdullah led National Conference emerged as the single largest party in the state with 28 seats out of the total 87 state assembly seats. It is closely followed by PDP which has won 21 seats. Congress has won 17 seats while BJP has emerged as the biggest gainer in these elections as it has improved from its previous seat tally of 1 to 11. The remaining 10 seats have been won by some other parties and the independents.
Coalition Possibilities It can be called the ‘election mandate’ , ‘Janta ka faisla’ or an irony that except NC and Congress’ coalition no other alliance can stake claim to form a government in the state. 44 seats are required to stake claim to form the government. NC and PDP are the arch rivals and no one can expect them to come together. At the same time no one can expect an ‘understanding’ between BJP and PDP as both are polls apart. PDP has a soft corner for the separatists while BJP calls them ‘traitors’. If the impossible happens and PDP and BJP come close to each other, even then they can not form a government as they both are short of 12 seats to form a government. PDP and Congress along with the others can form the government but this is not possible because of the recent strategic election compulsion. Congress has not yet recovered from the recent back stabbing by the PDP. So all it indicates that Except NC and Congress no other coalition can stake claim to form the government. After the trust vote motion in the Lok Sabha NC and Congress have come very close to each other. It must be learnt that PDP and NC both had supported the Manmohan Singh government in favor of India-US nuclear deal. After the elections results Congress had said that its doors are opened both for NC and PDP. But, in the political circles it was being said that Congress is inclined towards NC. This possibility had almost turned into reality with the declaration of the election results.
Chief Minister After the declaration of results on Sunday evening , 72 year old NC leader Farooq Abdullah had said that he would like to become the next chief minister of the state. And this statement had created confusions. But on Monday morning he cleared the confusion by saying that he will recommend his son Omar Abdullah’s name to his party to be made the next chief minister of the state. It must be learnt that Farooq Abdullah is currently a Rajya Sabha member. On Monday, NC leader claimed that they have established informal links with the Congress and Omar will travel to Delhi to seek Congress’ help to stake claim for the formation of the new government. Congress was yet to take any decision to help the NC to form the government. In political circles it is being expected that Omar Abdullah, with the support of Congress, will become the youngest CM in the history of Jammu and Kashmir.
Achievement The recent J&K assembly elections are being considered as the biggest achievement of the Indian democracy in wake of the separatists’ election boycott call. Pak sponsored separatist leaders and militant organizations had called for the election boycott. But public of the state had not paid any heed to the ‘call’ and overwhelmingly participated in the electoral process. A strong turnout of 60.5 per cent was recoded which is the second best after 1987′s assembly elections. This huge turnout is being considered as a rebuff to the separatists and the so called ‘fear factor’. It must be learnt that Pakistan supported militants had supported Hurriyat’s peaceful election boycott call and had refrained from violence this time. The election mandate reflects the view that ‘radical’ parties have gained from the Amarnath land row. PDP and BJP both have improved their seat tally and the vote percentage. While on the other hand Congress and NC’s vote percentage has declined.
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