| Election Name: | 2008 Jammu and Kashmir state assembly elections |
| Country: | Jammu and Kashmir (state) |
| Type: | parliamentary |
| Previous Election: | 2002 Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly election |
| Previous Year: | 2002 |
| Election Date: | 17 November 2008 to 24 December 2008 |
| Next Election: | 2014 Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly election |
| Next Year: | 2014 |
| Seats For Election: | all 87 seats in Legislative Assembly |
| Majority Seats: | 44 |
| Turnout: | 61.16% (17.46%) |
| Leader1: | Omar Abdullah |
| Party1: | Jammu & Kashmir National Conference |
| Last Election1: | 28 |
| Seats1: | 28 |
| Percentage1: | 23.07% |
| Swing1: | 5.17% |
| Chief Minister | |
| Before Election: | Ghulam Nabi Azad |
| Before Party: | Indian National Congress |
| After Election: | Omar Abdullah |
| After Party: | Jammu & Kashmir National Conference |
| Leader2: | Mehbooba Mufti |
| Party2: | Jammu and Kashmir People's Democratic Party |
| Last Election2: | 16 |
| Seats2: | 21 |
| Seat Change2: | 5 |
| Percentage2: | 15.39% |
| Swing2: | 6.11% |
| Party3: | Indian National Congress |
| Last Election3: | 20 |
| Seats3: | 17 |
| Seat Change3: | 3 |
| Percentage3: | 17.71% |
| Swing3: | 6.53% |
| Party4: | Bharatiya Janata Party |
| Last Election4: | 1 |
| Seats4: | 11 |
| Seat Change4: | 10 |
| Percentage4: | 12.45% |
| Swing4: | 3.88% |
| Party5: | Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party |
| Last Election5: | 4 |
| Seats5: | 3 |
| Seat Change5: | 1 |
| Percentage5: | 3.33% |
| Swing5: | 0.5% |
Elections for the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir were held over seven days in November and December 2008. The previous government led by the Jammu and Kashmir People's Democratic Party (PDP) in coalition with the Indian National Congress (INC) collapsed when the PDP withdrew. Following the election, the Jammu & Kashmir National Conference (NC) agreed on a coalition with Congress and their leader, Omar Abdullah became the state's youngest-ever Chief Minister at 38.
Elections for the Jammu and Kashmir state Assembly were due in 2008, following the end of the term of the Assembly elected in 2002. However, the PDP withdrew from the INC-led state government in protest at the Amarnath land transfer decision. The INC government resigned in July 2008 and the state was brought under the direct rule of the central government pending the elections.[1]
The main Kashmiri separatist group, the All Parties Hurriyat Conference called on Kashmiris to boycott the elections, saying the elections were a "futile exercise" that would never "fulfill the aspirations of the people".[2]
Despite these boycott calls, NC leaders claimed that activists from Jamaat-e-Islami had come out and voted for the PDP.[3]
There were scattered separatist protests throughout the elections, including hundreds who protested in Srinagar. Police prevented these protestors from marching to the center of the city which led to protestors throwing stones at the police who fired tear gas and used baton charges.[4]
Indian election officials voiced major concerns about the security of the elections given the calls for a boycott and protest from separatist leaders and the recent violence over the Amarnath land transfer controversy. Voting was staggered so that security forces could maintain control. Thousands of security forces were deployed during the voting. In Srinagar, security forces were posted at junctions, patrolled the streets, and guarded polling stations. An unofficial curfew was enforced, gatherings of more than five people banned and neighborhoods were sealed off with steel barricades and razor wire.[4]
Police also arrested three men they accused of being Jaish-e-Mohammed members planning suicide attacks in Jammu.[5] One of those arrested was a soldier in the Army of Pakistan, who Pakistan said had deserted in 2006.[4] However following the polls the NC leader, Farooq Abdullah, thanked the Pakistan government for their "non-interference" with the polls.[6]
The seven stages of the elections were held as follows:
| Date | Seats | Turnout | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday 17 November | 10 | 69.02% | ||
| Sunday 23 November | 6 | 68.29% | ||
| Sunday 30 November | 5 | 68.22% | ||
| Sunday 7 December | 18 | 59.24% | ||
| Saturday 13 December | 11 | 58.5% | ||
| Wednesday 17 December | 16 | 65.93% | ||
| Wednesday 24 December | 21 | 52.0% | ||
| Total | 87 | 60.5% | ||
| Source:[7] [8] | ||||
Turnout rose by 17%, despite calls from Kashmiri separatists and Pakistan for Kashmiris to boycott the election.[8] [9] INC head Sonia Gandhi described the polls as "a triumph of Indian democracy".
Separatist supporters were said to have backed the PDP.[9] The BJP's increase in support was said to be due to polarisation arising from the Amarnath land transfer controversy, which led it to increase its seat tally from 1 to 11 seats.[10]
1,354 candidates stood for election including 517 independents and nominees from 43 political parties.[11]
|-!colspan=10||-! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" |Party! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" |Flag! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" |Seats! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" |+/–|-| style="text-align:left;" |National Conference| style="text-align:left;" || style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" | 28| style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" | 0|-| style="text-align:left;" |People's Democratic Party| style="text-align:left;" || style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" | 21| style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" | 5|-| style="text-align:left;" |Indian National Congress | style="text-align:left;" || style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" | 17| style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" | 3|-| style="text-align:left;" |Bharatiya Janata Party| style="text-align:left;" || style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" | 11| style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" | 10|-| style="text-align:left;" |Jammu & Kashmir National Panthers Party| style="text-align:left;" || style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" | 3| style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" | 1|-| style="text-align:left;" |Communist Party of India (Marxist)| style="text-align:left;" || style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" | 1| style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" | 1|-| style="text-align:left;" |People's Democratic Front| style="text-align:left;" || style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" | 1| style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" | |-| style="text-align:left;" |Jammu & Kashmir Democratic Party Nationalist| style="text-align:left;" || style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" | 1| style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" | |-| style="text-align:left;" | Independents| style="text-align:left;" || style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" | 4| style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;" | |-| style="text-align:left;background-color:#E9E9E9" colspan=2|Total (turnout 60.5%)! style="text-align:right;background-color:#E9E9E9"| 87! style="text-align:right;background-color:#E9E9E9"| |-| style="text-align:left;" colspan=12 |Source: Electoral Commission of India|}
| Constituency | Reserved for (SC/None) | Member | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| None | Kafil Ur Rehman | |||
| None | Mir Saifullah | |||
| None | Abdul Haq Khan | |||
| None | Chowdary Mohd Ramzan | |||
| None | Ab Rashid Sheikh | |||
| None | ||||
| None | Javaid Ahmad Dar | |||
| None | Mohd Ashraf Ganie | |||
| None | Nazir Ahmad Khan | |||
| None | Nizamuddin Bhat | |||
| None | Mohd. Akbar Lone | |||
| None | Syed Basharat Ahmad | |||
| None | Muzaffar Hussain Baig | |||
| None | Gh Hassan Mir | |||
| None | Iftikhar Hussain Ansari | |||
| None | Altaf Ahmad | |||
| None | Omar Abdullah | |||
| None | Farooq Abdullah | |||
| None | Peer Aafaq Ahmed | |||
| None | Mubarak Ahmad Gul | |||
| None | Ali Mohammad Sagar | |||
| None | Shameema Firdous | |||
| None | Nasir Aslam Wani | |||
| None | Farooq Abdullah | |||
| None | Mohamad Irfan Shah | |||
| None | Javaid Mustaffa Mir | |||
| None | Aga Syed Ruhullah | |||
| None | Shafi Ahmad Wani | |||
| None | Hakeem Mohammad Yasin | |||
| None | Abdul Rahim Rather | |||
| None | Mushtaq Ahmad Shah | |||
| None | Zahoor Ahmad | |||
| None | Mohd Khalil Bandh | |||
| None | Syed Bashir Ahmad Shah | |||
| None | Mehbooba Mufti | |||
| None | Abdul Razaq Wagay | |||
| None | Sakina Itoo | |||
| None | Mohammed Yousuf Tarigami | |||
| None | Abdul Gaffar Sofi | |||
| None | Mufti Mohammad Sayeed | |||
| None | Mohammad Sartaj Madni | |||
| None | Ghulam Ahmad Mir | |||
| None | Peerzada Mohd. Syed | |||
| None | Peerzada Mansoor Hussain | |||
| None | Abdul Rehman Bhat | |||
| None | Rafi Ahmad Mir | |||
| None | Tsetan Namgyal | |||
| None | Nawang Rigzin | |||
| None | Qamar Ali Akhoon | |||
| None | Feroz Ahmed Khan | |||
| None | Sajjad Ahmad Kichloo | |||
| None | Ghulam Mohd Saroori | |||
| None | Abdul Majid Wani | |||
| None | Ghulam Nabi Azad | |||
| SC | Ashok Kumar | |||
| None | Vikar Rasool | |||
| None | Abdul Gani Malik | |||
| None | Baldev Raj | |||
| None | Ajaz Ahmed Khan | |||
| None | Balwant Singh Mankotia | |||
| SC | Krishan Chander | |||
| None | Harsh Dev Singh | |||
| None | Lal Chand | |||
| None | Jagdish Raj Sapolia | |||
| None | Charanjit Singh | |||
| None | Manohar Lal Sharma | |||
| SC | Durga Dass | |||
| SC | Yash Paul Kundal | |||
| None | Surjit Singh | |||
| None | Jugal Kishore | |||
| None | Raman Bhalla | |||
| None | Ashok Kumar Khajuria | |||
| None | Chaman Lal Gupta | |||
| None | Ashwani Kumar Sharma | |||
| SC | Gharu Ram Bhagat | |||
| None | Sham Lal Choudhary | |||
| None | Sukh Nandan Kumar | |||
| SC | Bharat Bhushan | |||
| None | Sham Lal Sharma | |||
| SC | Tara Chand | |||
| None | Radhay Sham Sharma | |||
| None | Zulfkar Ali | |||
| None | Shabbir Ahmed Khan | |||
| None | Rachhpal Singh | |||
| None | Mohd. Aslam | |||
| None | Sardar Rafiq Hussain Khan | |||
| None | Ajaz Ahmed Jan | |||
Former National Conference Chief Minister, Farooq Abdullah, said he did not want to return as it "required the energy of a younger man", and nominated his son, Omar Abdullah, and the head of the Jammu & Kashmir National Conference instead.[12]
Congress debated forming a coalition with either Conference or the PDP. It was reported that the PDP had offered to support a Congress candidate for Chief Minister if they joined with them. However, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress chairperson Sonia Gandhi were reported to favor the largest party to "honor the mandate" of the election.[13]
On 30 December Congress and the National Conference agreed to form a coalition government, with Omar Abdullah as Chief Minister.[14]