The UT of Jammu and Kashmir will have its new government on October 8, after three phases of polling. For a 90-seat assembly, there are numerous contending parties. The multipolar fight can augment the possibilities for small parties to be kingmakers.
As the polling in the Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections nears all parties have intensified their campaigns. Elections to the assembly are going to take place after a long time, and the emergence of small parties and their rising influence has made the contest more interesting. Although small in size, these parties can become kingmakers and even ruin the game of big parties. Included in the list of such parties are 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 was now being led by his son and former minister Sajjad Lone. In its militancy days, the PC did not contest any elections and even lost its election symbol. Its fortunes changed when Sajjad Lone emerged victorious from Handwara in the 2014 assembly elections and the party also bagged Kupwara, becoming part of the PDP-BJP coalition government. Lone remained a cabinet minister till the government was dismissed.
Lone attempted to broaden the base of his party by co-opting leaders from other organizations post the abrogation of Article 370. He contested the Lok Sabha in 2024 from Baramulla but failed. Since the party is looking to contest on 22 seats, assembly votes would become a vital test for it.
Apni Party
After Article 370 was repealed, former minister Altaf Bukhari quickly founded his party and became the first politician from Jammu and Kashmir to head a team that met with Amit Shah, the home minister, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Apni Party, which is running for all 60 assembly seats—40 in Kashmir and 20 in Jammu—will put itself to the test in the next assembly elections. During the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the party suffered a shock when both of its candidates lost their deposits in the Srinagar and Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha constituencies.
Awami Ittehad Party
The Awami Ittehad Party was formed in 2012 by Baramulla MP Engineer Rashid, a firebrand leader hailing from north Kashmir, who already had the experience of being elected to the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly as an independent from Langate in 2009 and 2014. He contested the Lok Sabha elections for the first time in 2019 and polled over 1 lakh votes. In a big shocker, he had contested the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from Tihar jail and won by a big margin in Baramulla as NC vice-president Omar Abdullah and PC president Sajad Lone trailed behind. After getting released on interim bail from Tihar, Rashid has been canvassing Kashmir and has a lot of influence among the youth.
Prospect Of Hung Assembly
With 90 seats in the J-K assembly and the contest having turned multipolar in many constituencies, it will certainly result in a hung assembly. Even in the previous elections in 2014, elections threw up a hung assembly, despite fewer contesting parties. Eventually, BJP entered into an alliance with PDP, in what was seen as an imagined coalition.
The number of contesting parties has increased, and small parties are even influencing voters significantly in the forthcoming elections. This was witnessed in the Baramula Lok Sabha contest, where Engineer Rashid registered a dominating victory over former CM Omar Abdullah. So, in case the polls mandate a hung assembly and the 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.
