1977 Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly election

1977 Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly election

←  1972 9 July 1977 1983  →
all 76 seats in Legislative Assembly 39 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	67.2%
First party Second party   JP Leader Sheikh Abdullah Party JKNC JP Last election - - Seats won 47 13 Seat change 47 13   Third party Fourth party   Party INC (R) Jamaat-e-Islami Last election 58 Seats won 11 1 Seat change 46 4
Chief Minister before election Sheikh Abdullah JKNC Elected Chief Minister Sheikh Abdullah JKNC

Elections for the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir were held over June 1977, ^[1] which are generally regarded as the first 'free and fair' elections in the state. ^[2] Jammu & Kashmir National Conference, newly revived from the former Plebiscite Front, won an overwhelming majority and re-elected Sheikh Abdullah as the Chief Minister. ^[3]

Background

After reaching the 1974 Indira-Sheikh accord, Sheikh Abdullah was elected as the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir by the ruling Indian National Congress party in the state legislature (which had in fact been the original National Conference founded by Abdullah in 1930s but merged into Congress before the 1967 elections). Abdullah remained in power during the National Emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi in 1975. After the Emergency was lifted, the Janata Party came to power in the Centre in the 1977 general election. ^[4]

Elections were called for the state Legislative Assembly in June 1977. Sheikh Abdullah now revived the National Conference from the erstwhile Plebiscite Front. The National Conference and Congress met head-on as equals, the first time such an electoral contest occurred since the State's Accession in 1947. The Prime Minister Morarji Desai (of the Janata Party) took steps to strengthen security in the state and declared that any rigging would be severely punished. This had a 'salutary effect' in the political atmosphere in the state witnessing its first 'free and fair' election. ^[5]

The revival of the National Conference was greeted with great enthusiasm in the Kashmir Valley. In the words of Kashmiri, "the entire valley was red with N. C. flags. Every house and every market stood decorated with bunting." ^[2]

Results

The National Conference won the majority in the Assembly with 47 of the 76 seats. ^[6] Whereas it won 40 of the 42 seats in the Kashmir Valley, it was able to win only 7 seats out of 32 in the Jammu province. ^[7]

The Indian National Congress (former National Conference, which had been in power since the State's accession) was reduced to third place, winning 11 seats in Jammu and none in the Valley. ^[7]

The Janata Party (which had incorporated the former Jammu Praja Parishad) won 13 seats, its best performance so far. In addition to 11 seats in Jammu, it won 2 seats in the Valley for the first time. ^[7]

Also significant is the fact that Jamaat-e-Islami won only one seat, down from 5 seats in the previous Assembly. ^[6]

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Jammu & Kashmir National Conference	807,166	46.22	47	0
	Janata Party	414,259	23.72	13	New
	Indian National Congress (R)	294,911	16.89	11	47
	Jamaat-e-Islami Kashmir	62,654	3.59	1	4
	Others	1,903	0.11	0	0
	Independents	165,477	9.48	4	1
Total		1,746,370	100.00	76	1
Valid votes		1,746,370	96.80
Invalid/blank votes		57,734	3.20
Total votes		1,804,104	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		2,684,992	67.19
Source: ECI [8]

Results by constituency

Winner, runner-up, voter turnout, and victory margin in every constituency ^[9]

Assembly Constituency		Turnout	Winner					Runner Up					Margin
#k	Names	%	Candidate	Party		Votes	%	Candidate	Party		Votes	%
1	Karnah	67.94%	Ghulam Qadir Mir		JKNC	12,357	46.31%	Mohammed Yunis Khan		INC	7,641	28.64%	4,716
2	Handwara	83.41%	Abdul Ghani Lone		JP	17,021	51.78%	Sharif Ud Din		JKNC	14,702	44.73%	2,319
3	Langate	74.63%	Mohammad Sultan Ganai		JKNC	11,976	50.04%	Abdul Gani Mir		Independent	3,657	15.28%	8,319
4	Kupwara	62.7%	Assad Ullah Shah		JKNC	13,780	56.41%	Ghulam Nabi		JP	4,834	19.79%	8,946
5	Bandipora	68.45%	Mohammad Khalil Naik		JKNC	18,032	70.94%	Mohammed Anwar Khan		INC	2,299	9.04%	15,733
6	Sonawari	84.98%	Abdul Aziz Parray		JKNC	21,074	67.99%	Mohammad Akbar Lone		JP	9,923	32.01%	11,151
7	Pattan	87.37%	Abdul Rashid Shaheen		JKNC	15,738	53.99%	Iftikhar Hussain Ansari		JP	12,734	43.69%	3,004
8	Gulmarg	40.85%	Mohmad Akbar Lone		JKNC	15,700	78.59%	Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Beg		JP	2,334	11.68%	13,366
9	Sangrama	73.88%	Ghulam Rasool		JKNC	13,609	70.69%	Sharif Ud Din		JP	2,106	10.94%	11,503
10	Sopore	85.9%	Syed Ali Shah Geelani		JI	16,717	49.14%	Hakeem Habibullah		JKNC	16,684	49.04%	33
11	Rafiabad	72.21%	Mohammad Dilawar Mir		JKNC	14,696	68.52%	Ghulam Rasool Kar		INC	3,517	16.4%	11,179
12	Baramulla	66.78%	Ghulam Ud-Din Shah		JKNC	11,509	55.64%	Ghulam Meha Safi		JI	4,472	21.62%	7,037
13	Uri	68.17%	Mohammad Shafi		JKNC	11,921	65.56%	Mohammed Mazaffar Khan		INC	3,309	18.2%	8,612
14	Kangan	76.12%	Mian Bashir Ahmed		JKNC	20,808	87.07%	Mohammed Afzi		JP	3,090	12.93%	17,718
15	Ganderbal	87.27%	Sheikh Abdullah		JKNC	26,162	88.17%	Ali Mohamd Taria		Independent	3,509	11.83%	22,653
16	Hazratbal	82.59%	Hissa Ud Din		JKNC	23,032	80.74%	Mohammed Iliyas		JP	5,081	17.81%	17,951
17	Amira Kadal	74.54%	Ghulam Mohi-Ud-Din Shoh		JKNC	14,515	57.74%	Ghulam Mohi-Ud-Din Wani		JP	10,340	41.13%	4,175
18	Habba Kadal	70.62%	Ghulam Mohammed Butt		JKNC	16,356	47.53%	Jag Mohini		JP	14,084	40.92%	2,272
19	Zaina Kadal	85.39%	Molvi Mohammed Yasin Hamdani		JKNC	23,414	61.79%	Sheikh Ali Mohammad		JP	14,476	38.21%	8,938
20	Eidgah	80.77%	Abdul Rashid Kabuli		JP	18,255	52.83%	Ghulam Rasool Rashi		JKNC	16,298	47.17%	1,957
21	Zadibal	81.71%	Ghulam Ahmad Shunthoo		JKNC	23,401	51.55%	Salin Anwar Dhar		JP	21,522	47.41%	1,879
22	Nagin	78.58%	Abdul Samad Teli		JKNC	13,856	61.51%	Ghulam Mohmad Bawan		JP	8,397	37.28%	5,459
23	Beerwah	72.91%	Ahmad Saeed		JKNC	14,918	60.73%	Syed Ali Shah		JP	7,737	31.5%	7,181
24	Khan Sahib	66.42%	Hakeem Mohammad Yaseen Shah		JKNC	15,647	73.94%	Ghulam Qadir War		JP	3,814	18.02%	11,833
25	Budgam	84.54%	Syed Ghulam Hussain Geelani		JKNC	14,324	49.83%	Aga Sayeed Hassan		JP	11,799	41.05%	2,525
26	Chadoora	77.67%	Abdul Samad Mir		JKNC	13,103	64.86%	Mir Mustafa		INC	4,699	23.26%	8,404
27	Charari Sharief	71.84%	Abdul Rahim Rather		JKNC	14,766	71.96%	Abdul Qayoom		INC	4,764	23.22%	10,002
28	Pulwama	73.27%	Mohammad Ibrahim Dar		JKNC	18,712	72.58%	Abdul Kashid Wani		JI	2,537	9.84%	16,175
29	Pampore	83.36%	Mohiuddin Malik		JKNC	22,877	82.11%	Peer Ghulam Hassan Masoodi		JP	2,409	8.65%	20,468
30	Tral	84.72%	Mohammed Subhan Bhat		JKNC	13,315	46.05%	Ali Muhammad Naik		Independent	11,859	41.02%	1,456
31	Wachi	78.31%	Ghulam Qadir Wani		JKNC	16,690	67.04%	Bashir Ahmed Magrey		INC	3,172	12.74%	13,518
32	Shopian	73.06%	Sheikh Mohammed Mansoor		JKNC	15,133	59.34%	Hakim Ghulam Nabi		JI	4,763	18.68%	10,370
33	Noorabad	71.74%	Wali Mohammad Itoo		JKNC	12,407	58.76%	Abdul Aziz Zargar		INC	5,589	26.47%	6,818
34	Devsar	79.38%	Ghulam Nabi Kochak		JKNC	14,921	59.95%	Manohar Nath Kaul		INC	4,623	18.58%	10,298
35	Kulgam	74.92%	Ghulam Nabi Dar		JKNC	8,833	42.63%	Abdul Razak Mir		JI	6,403	30.91%	2,430
36	Hom Shali Bugh	81.79%	Abdul Salam Deva		JKNC	12,959	56.77%	Ali Mohammed Dar		JI	5,897	25.83%	7,062
37	Pahalgam	77.13%	Piyare Lal Handoo		JKNC	14,764	68.78%	Ghulam Rasool Kochah		JP	4,283	19.95%	10,481
38	Srigufwara–Bijbehara	84.62%	Abdul Gani Shah		JKNC	16,059	63.92%	Mufti Mohammed Sayeed		INC	8,081	32.16%	7,978
39	Anantnag	88.35%	Mirza Mohammed Afzal Beg		JKNC	15,893	63.13%	Sheikh Abdul Majid		JP	9,283	36.87%	6,610
40	Shangus–Anantnag East	77.62%	Mohammed Ashraf Khan		JKNC	15,568	70.21%	Mohammed Maqbool		INC	4,162	18.77%	11,406
41	Kokernag	74.91%	Malik Ghulam Ud Din		JKNC	14,854	65.52%	Peer Hissam Ud Din		INC	5,339	23.55%	9,515
42	Dooru	74.25%	Haji Abdul Gani Khan		JKNC	10,817	51.44%	Sneer Aki Boda		INC	5,472	26.02%	5,345
43	Leh	64.79%	Sonam Narboo		INC	11,736	61.17%	Soham Gyaltsan		JP	7,450	38.83%	4,286
44	Kargil	72.87%	Munshi Habibullah		JKNC	13,549	54.42%	Kachoo Mohammed Ali Khan		INC	11,021	44.27%	2,528
45	Kishtwar	51.1%	Bashir Ahmed Kichloo		JKNC	3,910	27.15%	Ghulam Hussain Arman		JP	3,385	23.51%	525
46	Inderwal	37.1%	Sheikh Ghulam Mohammed		JKNC	5,296	44.38%	Abdul Ghani Goni		JP	2,530	21.2%	2,766
47	Bhaderwah	36.34%	Narain Dass		JP	4,535	40.96%	Thakur Dass		JKNC	3,745	33.82%	790
48	Doda	48.42%	Ghulam Qadir Wani		JP	5,342	39.02%	Attaullah Sohrawardi		JKNC	4,384	32.02%	958
49	Ramban	45.72%	Prem Nath		JKNC	3,472	28.64%	Labhu Ram		Independent	3,035	25.03%	437
50	Banihal	52.67%	Molvi Abdul Rashid		JKNC	7,460	51.83%	Modh. Akthar Nizami		INC	3,290	22.86%	4,170
51	Gulabgarh	47.6%	Haji Buland Khan		JKNC	8,723	58.15%	Mohammed Ayub Khan		INC	3,203	21.35%	5,520
52	Reasi	54.7%	Rishi Kumar Kaushal		JP	9,931	52.84%	Raghunath Das		JKNC	2,699	14.36%	7,232
53	Udhampur	53.2%	Shiv Charan Gupta		Independent	9,363	44.14%	Faqir Chand		INC	8,763	41.31%	600
54	Chenani	44.98%	Bhim Singh		INC	7,674	52.43%	Ishar Dass		JP	4,005	27.36%	3,669
55	Ramnagar	38.08%	Prithvi Chand		JP	7,300	53.19%	Ram Dass		INC	4,071	29.66%	3,229
56	Samba	62.22%	Dhayan Singh		Independent	6,349	25.61%	Harbans Singh		INC	4,728	19.07%	1,621
57	Bari Brahmana	59.58%	Gurnbachan Kumari		JP	8,124	39.21%	Gouri Shankar		INC	7,521	36.3%	603
58	Bishnah	62.31%	Parma Nand		INC	9,441	43.17%	Ram Chand		JP	7,357	33.64%	2,084
59	Ranbir Singh Pora–Jammu South	74.38%	Janak Raj Gupta		INC	12,603	48.46%	Rangil Singh		JP	7,166	27.55%	5,437
60	Jammu Cantonment	55.35%	Parduman Singh		INC	5,600	28.6%	Ved Bhasin		JP	5,426	27.71%	174
61	Jammu West	53.73%	Harbans Lal Bhagotra		JP	10,956	54.76%	Romesh Chander		INC	7,599	37.98%	3,357
62	Jammu East	52.99%	Ram Nath Bhalgotra		JP	13,179	61.78%	Amrit Kumar Malhotra		INC	5,141	24.1%	8,038
63	Jandrah Gharota	61.07%	Dhan Raj Bargotra		JP	8,550	38.08%	Ranjit Singh		INC	6,112	27.22%	2,438
64	Marh	54.6%	Tulsi Ram		JP	5,527	32.96%	Sushil Kumar		INC	4,553	27.15%	974
65	Akhnoor	70.63%	Dharam Pal		INC	8,635	37.67%	Govind Ram Sharma		Independent	4,517	19.7%	4,118
66	Chhamb	74.39%	Ram Nath		Independent	9,352	38.52%	Dewan Singh		INC	4,106	16.91%	5,246
67	Basohli	45.32%	Mangat Ram Sharma		INC	4,829	29.96%	Uttam Chand		Independent	3,885	24.1%	944
68	Billawar	54.25%	Dhian Singh		JP	12,328	57.57%	Thakur Randhir Singh		INC	6,258	29.23%	6,070
69	Kathua	60.96%	Dhain Chand		JP	10,022	44.9%	Punjabu Ram Alias Punjab Singh		INC	9,023	40.43%	999
70	Hiranagar	69.54%	Girdhari Lal Dogra		INC	13,623	50.39%	Rattan Lal		JP	9,912	36.66%	3,711
71	Nowshera	60.01%	Beli Ram		INC	7,832	30.89%	Rattan Singh		Independent	7,416	29.25%	416
72	Darhal	46.9%	Chowdhary Mohmmad Hussain		JKNC	11,433	57.94%	Abdul Rashid Mirza		INC	4,717	23.91%	6,716
73	Rajouri	59.62%	Talib Hussain		INC	9,390	39.98%	Mohammed Sharif		JKNC	7,365	31.36%	2,025
74	Surankote	68.84%	Aslam Chowdhary Mohammad		INC	11,608	52.37%	Mohammed Syed Beg		JKNC	9,346	42.16%	2,262
75	Mendhar	65.23%	Rafiq Hissain Khan		Independent	6,556	30.96%	Mohammed Sadiq		JKNC	6,479	30.59%	77
76	Haveli	48.26%	Ghulam Ahmed		JKNC	8,915	51.31%	Lal Hussain Mustaq		JP	4,616	26.57%	4,299

Government formation

Sheikh Abdullah was sworn in as the Chief Minister of the State following the election. Mirza Afzal Beg was sworn in as the Deputy Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir .

By the end of the 1970s, the seventy-year-old Sheikh Abdullah anointed his son Farooq Abdullah as his successor. Following Sheikh's death in 1982, Farooq Abdullah was appointed as the Chief Minister. The National Conference government completed a full five-year term. ^[10]

Before his death, Sheikh Abdullah initiated a controversial 'Grant of Permit for Resettlement' bill in the State's Legislative Assembly. As per the bill, any state subject of Jammu and Kashmir before 14 May 1954 or any of his descendants could apply for resettlement in the State provided they swore allegiance to both the Indian Constitution and the Constitution of the State. The bill was passed by the Legislative Assembly after Sheikh's death, but it aroused fears among the Hindus of Jammu that Pakistani sympathizers and agents could cross into the State and create tensions. The Central government forced Farooq Abdullah to refer the bill to the Supreme Court of India where it has been put into cold storage. ^[11]

Commentary

All the elections held in Jammu and Kashmir before 1977 were plagued with corrupt electoral practices. ^[12] The elections of 1977 represented a 'democratic breakthrough', according to scholar Steve Widmalm. Politician Bhim Singh stated, 'Morarji Desai openly declared that anyone who would attempt to pursue some form of rigging would be severely punished, and this was quite effective'. The Congress party in the Central Government has therefore been regarded as an obstacle to the State's democratic functioning. The party regarded Jammu and Kashmir to be a sensitive border state, which was not 'ready for democracy'. Building Indian nationalism was considered far more important. Activist Balraj Puri has disagreed with the sentiment. In his view, democratic functioning was indeed a prerequisite to integration and national unity. As a result of the democratization process, he has asserted that there were ten years of peace with 'no fundamentalism, no secessionism, and no communalism'. JKLF's Amanullah Khan has also endorsed the assessment. The observers he sent to the Kashmir Valley during the early 1980s reported that the situation was not conducive to inciting a rebellion. ^[13] Journalist Tavleen Singh who covered the subsequent Assembly election in 1983 asked people wherever she went whether they regarded the plebiscite as an issue. 'Almost everywhere the answer was an emphatic no. People said that the past was dead and they were participating in this election as Indians,' she recounted. ^[14]

References

1. 1977 J&K elections
2. Guha, India after Gandhi 2008, Section 23.III.
3. Statistical report J&K 1977
4. Guha, India after Gandhi 2008, Chapter 23.
5. Widmalm, The Rise and Fall of Democracy in Jammu and Kashmir 1997 , pp. 1006–1007; Widmalm, Kashmir in Comparative Perspective 2002 , pp. 57–58
6. Widmalm, The Rise and Fall of Democracy in Jammu and Kashmir 1997, p. 1007.
7. Bose, Kashmir: Roots of Conflict, Paths to Peace 2003, pp. 89–90.
8. "Jammu & Kashmir 1977". Election Commission of India . Retrieved 22 June 2022.
9. "Statistical Report on General Election, 1977 to the Legislative Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir" (PDF). Election Commission of India. Archived from the original (pdf) on 17 January 2012. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
10. Bose, Kashmir: Roots of Conflict, Paths to Peace 2003, p. 90.
11. Schofield, Kashmir in Conflict 2003, pp. 129–130.
12. Widmalm, Kashmir in Comparative Perspective 2002, p. 57.
13. Widmalm, Kashmir in Comparative Perspective 2002, pp. 57–61.
14. Schofield, Kashmir in Conflict 2003, p. 131.

Bibliography

• Bose, Sumantra (2003), Kashmir: Roots of Conflict, Paths to Peace, Harvard University Press, ISBN   0-674-01173-2
• Guha, Ramachandra (2008), India after Gandhi: The History of the World's Largest Democracy, Pan Macmillan, ISBN   978-0330396110
• Schofield, Victoria (2003) [First published in 2000], Kashmir in Conflict, London and New York: I. B. Taurus & Co, ISBN   1860648983
• Widmalm, Sten (November 1997), "The Rise and Fall of Democracy in Jammu and Kashmir", Asian Survey, 37 (11): 1005–1030, doi:10.2307/2645738, JSTOR   2645738
• Widmalm, Sten (2002), Kashmir in Comparative Perspective: Democracy and Violent Separatism in India, Psychology Press, ISBN   978-0-7007-1578-7