Three women candidates emerge victorious in J-K Assembly polls

Jammu: Three women, including former minister Sakeena Masood (National Conference), won elections on Tuesday to enter the male-dominated Assembly in Jammu and Kashmir.

While two women made it to the Assembly in 2014, three women, including Mehbooba Mufti, won elections in 2008.

Among them, the lone BJP female candidate Shagun Parihar won the Kishtwar Assembly seat, defeating veteran National Conference leader and former minister Sajad Ahmed Kitchloo.

Former Masood, who got 36,623 votes, won by a margin of 17,449 votes, defeating Gulzar Ahmed Dar, who polled 19,174 votes in the D H Pora Assembly seat in the Kulgam district, according to the ECI website.

Sakeena had previously won the Noorabad seat (renamed as D H Pura seat) twice in 1996 and 2008, while her father Wali Mohammad Itoo won this seat four times.

Another National Conference candidate, Shamim Firdous, defeated BJP candidate Ashok Kumar Bhat by a margin of 9,538 votes in the Habbakadal seat of the Srinagar district. Shamim received 12,437 votes. Since 1977, the NC has won the Habba Kadal seat six times, with Shamim Firdous representing the constituency after victories in 2008 and 2014.

Twenty-nine-year-old Parihar garnered 29,053 votes, narrowly defeating Kitchloo by a margin of 521 votes. Kitchloo, who previously won the seat in 2002 and 2008 and his father three times, secured 28,532 votes. PDP's Firdos Ahmed Tak received just 997 votes, forfeiting his deposit.

"I bow before the people of Kishtwar for their faith in me and my party. Their support is deeply appreciated. I am humbled by their endorsement," Parihar told reporters after she was declared elected.

She emphasised her victory is not just hers but belongs to the nationalist people of Jammu and Kashmir. "It is their blessing," she added.

However, Iltija Mufti, former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti's daughter, lost the election from Surgufwara-Bijbehara, and former PDP minister Asiea Naqash lost from the Hazratbal seat.

Iltija, who polled 23,529 votes, lost by a margin of 9,770 votes to National Conference's Bashir Ahmad Veeri, who polled 33,299 votes.

There were 41 women candidates in the fray in the Assembly elections.

In 2014, there were 24 women candidates in the fray, among whom Asiea Naqash won from the Hazratbal seat, while Shamim Firdous bagged the Habbakadal seat.

In 2008, there were 67 women candidates in the fray, among whom three candidates were elected to the assembly.