In a major setback to ruling National Conference-Congress coalition in Jammu and Kashmir, opposition PDP and BJP today shared the six Lok Sabha seats in the state as two Union ministers, including Farooq Abdullah, bit the dust.
Abdullah, NC patriarch and Union minister for New and Renewable Energy, tasted his first electoral defeat in over three decades.
PDP's Tariq Hamid Karra humbled him in the Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency by a margin of 42280 votes.
Karra, a former Finance minister in the then PDP-led government in Jammu and Kashmir, polled 157923 votes against Abdullah's 115643.
It was a comprehensive defeat for 76-year-old Abdullah as his party lost in 12 of the 15 assembly segments comprising the Srinagar Lok Sabha seat, considered to be the stronghold of National Conference.
Union Health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad was trounced by BJP's Jitendra Singh in Udhampur Lok Sabha constituency by a margin of 60976 votes.
Singh polled 487369 votes against Azad's 426393 as PDP's Arshid Malik came a distant third with 30458 votes.
This was the first time Azad, a former Chief Minister, had contested the Lok Sabha election from the state.
BJP president and candidate from Jammu Lok Sabha seat Jugal Kishore registered the highest winning margin of 257280 votes in the state, defeating two-time Congress MP Madan Lal Sharma.
Kishore got 619995 votes while Sharma polled 362715.
