The big story in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly polls is the resurgence of the National Conference and the Abdullahs. But an equally significant sub-plot is the result in Kulgam constituency where Kashmir's Communist leader MY Tarigami has defeated a candidate backed by the hardline Jamaat-e-Islami despite the banned organisation's attempt to polarise voters on religious lines.
At the end of all rounds of counting, Mr Tarigami is ahead by nearly 8,000 votes, according to the Election Commission data. Behind him is Jamaat-backed Sayar Ahmed Reshi. In the run-up to the election in the Muslim-dominated seat, the Jamaat candidate said that if he lost, it would be the "defeat of Islam". The results today showed that the polarisation attempt did not work.
Speaking to NDTV as the result in Kulgam became clear, four-time MLA Mr Tarigami said, "I salute the people of Kulgam. They fought for Kulgam, for Kashmir, for the rights of the people of Kashmir and defeated those who became collaborators of the government."
On a question on the Jamaat's unsuccessful attempt to polarise voters, he said, "This is how they were exposed. After so much turmoil and violence that they initiated, now they put it as Islam versus something. It's not loss of Islam, it's a loss of their demagogic politics, their double-faced and deceptive politics."
Mr Tarigami was backed by the National Conference, which did not field a candidate in Kulgam. The PDP candidate in the seat, Mohd Amin Dar, finished third.
Jamaat e Islami was at the forefront of militancy and separatism in the 1990s before they made a U-turn and chose to contest elections. It was banned in 2019 and propping up candidates in this election was widely seen as its attempt to get into a position to overturn that ban.
"On one hand, the people have rejected BJP. And on the other, they have supported the secular alliance of National Conference, Congress and the CPM," Mr Tarigami said.
