Early trends from the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections indicate a close contest between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the National Conference (NC). Devender Singh Rana of the BJP is currently leading in the Nagrota constituency, while Ravinder Raina trails behind NC's Surinder Kumar Choudhary in Noushera.

As the counting progresses, the NC-Congress alliance is ahead in 52 seats, with the BJP leading in 26 and other parties in eight.

Nagrota: Rana Takes the Lead

In Nagrota, Devender Singh Rana holds a lead of 12,142 votes over NC's Joginder Singh. Rana previously won the Nagrota seat in the 2014 elections while contesting as an NC candidate, defeating the BJP’s Nand Kishore by 4,048 votes.

Rana, once a close associate of former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, joined the BJP in October 2021. His decision came amid rising tensions within the NC, particularly after he advocated for the ‘Jammu Declaration,’ which sought greater empowerment and development for the Jammu region. This declaration emphasized the need for a unique identity for Jammu, distinct from the prevailing political narratives in Kashmir. Since joining the BJP, Rana has emerged as a prominent Hindu face in the Union Territory.

Noushera: Raina Trails

In Noushera, BJP's Ravinder Raina is trailing by a substantial margin of 11,412 votes. NC's Surinder Kumar Choudhary, who switched from the BJP to the NC in July 2023, is currently in the lead.

Raina had previously defeated Choudhary in the 2014 elections by a significant margin, marking a historic victory for the BJP in a constituency that had long been a Congress stronghold. The Congress had won the seat for eight consecutive terms from 1962 to 2002, making Raina's victory in 2014 a landmark achievement for the BJP.

The three-phase Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, covering 90 seats, concluded on October 1. The previous elections in 2014 resulted in a fractured mandate, with the People's Democratic Party (PDP) emerging as the largest party with 28 seats, followed by the BJP with 25. No party achieved a simple majority, leading to a coalition government that collapsed in June 2018 after the BJP withdrew from the alliance.

With the halfway mark set at 46 seats, all parties are eager to secure crucial victories to form the next government. The outcome of these elections is pivotal, marking the first elections since the abrogation of Article 370 and the reorganization of Jammu and Kashmir into a Union Territory.

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