"Nowhere seen in elections": Union Minister Pralhad Joshi slams Congress for its poor show in J-K polls
Oct 16, 2024
New Delhi [India], October 16 : Union Minister Pralhad Joshi said on Wednesday that the recently held assembly elections in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir were a festival of democracy for the public of Kashmir and slamed the Congress for its poor performance in the polls.
"Elections were a festival of democracy especially for the public of Kashmir. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has become the principal opposition party and we respect the mandate of the public...The Congress party is nowhere seen in the elections, they only won 6 seats...,"Pralhad Joshi told reporters here.
The Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) and Congress won the assembly polls held after a gap of ten years. JKNC won 42 seats while the Congress, it ally in the INDIA bloc, could only win 6 seats.
The BJP put up a impressive performance bagging 29 seats. Peoples' Democratic Party won three seats and one each by the People's Conference, CPI-M and AAP. Seven seats were also won by the Independents.
Union Minister Pralhad Joshi also highlighted that the BJP is forming the government for the third historic time in the Haryana.
He added, "BJP is forming the government in Haryana for the third time consecutively under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi..."
Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Saxena administered the oath of office to Omar Abdullah and his council of ministers at the Sher-i-Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC) in Srinagar.
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav and Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and some other INDIA alliance leaders were present.
Omar Abdullah had earlier served as Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir from 2009 and 2015.