Srinagar: The Farooq Abdullah-led People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration is heading for a big victory in the first local polls in Jammu and Kashmir since it lost its special status and was turned into a Union Territory last year.
In the first-ever District Development Council (DDC) polls in J&K, regional parties surged ahead in Kashmir while the BJP kept an upper hand in the Jammu region.
In the latest leads, the Gupkar alliance — a grouping of seven mainstream J&K-based parties including rivals National Conference and Mehbooba Mufti’s People’s Democratic Party (PDP) – is ahead in 108 seats; the BJP is leading in 60 seats. The Congress is ahead in 22.
In Jammu Province, the BJP is ahead in 57 seats while the Gupkar alliance is winning in 37. In Kashmir, the regional grouping is leading in a mammoth 71 seats while the BJP is ahead in three.
Voting was held in 280 seats 14 in each of the 20 districts of the union territory in eight.
