Voters stand in queues at a polling station to cast votes during the second phase of Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections.
Credit: PTI File Photo
Srinagar: Candidates backed by the banned Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) failed to make an impact in just concluded Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections, marking a significant setback for the organization.
This marks a significant setback for the JeI, which had returned to the electoral arena for the first time since the 1987 elections, generating considerable hype and anticipation during the poll campaign. In 1987 Assembly polls, widely believed to have been rigged, the JeI had won four seats.
Despite a vigorous campaign centered on local issues and community welfare, the JeI candidates struggled to connect with voters. Out of ten candidates, eight forfeited their deposits. The sole exception was Sayar Ahmad Reshi from Kulgam, who garnered over 25,000 votes but lost to CPM leader M Y Tarigami by approximately 8,000 votes.
The only other JeI backed candidate who didn’t forfeit deposit was on Zainapora seat in southern Shopian district where Ajaz Ahmad Mir stood second behind National Conference’s Showkat Ahmad Ganaie, losing by around 13,000 votes. Mir, a former MLA and PDP rebel, had been backed by the JeI.
In Sopore, a traditional JeI stronghold once represented by the late Syed Ali Geelani, party-backed candidate Manzoor Kaloo managed just 406 votes. Analysts suggest that the JeI's historical ties to radical ideologies may have alienated moderate voters.
“For over three decades, the Jamaat has called for election boycotts and labeled contestants and voters as infidels. Now, when they reentered the electoral fray, many voters were not ready to overlook this,” noted a political analyst.
Following the Pulwama terror attack in February 2019, in which 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed, the JeI, a religious-political organization, was banned by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
It has over 5,000 members in Jammu and Kashmir and has a presence in north Kashmir’s Sopore and some areas of south Kashmir, including Kulgam, Pulwama and Shopian.