1983 Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly election

Elections for the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir were held over October 1983.[2][1] The Jammu & Kashmir National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah was appointed Chief Minister.

1983 Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly election
17 November 1983 to 24 November 1983
all 75 seats in Legislative Assembly
38 seats needed for a majority
Turnout73.2%[1]
  First party Second party
 
Leader Farooq Abdullah
Party JKNC INC
Last election 47 11
Seats won 46 26
Seat change 1 15
  Third party Fourth party
 
Party BJP JKNPP
Last election - 4
Seats won - 3
Seat change - 2
Chief Minister before election

Farooq Abdullah
JKNC

 Elected Chief Minister

Farooq Abdullah
JKNC

Background

The 1983 Jammu and Kashmir elections cemented the political polarisation on religious lines after Indira Gandhi campaigned aggressively in the state, raising the bogey of a 'Muslim invasion' of the Jammu region, alluding to the Resettlement Bill passed by the-then National Conference government, which gave the state's residents who left for Pakistan before 1954 the right to return to the state, reclaim their properties, and resettle.[3]

Result

Indira Gandhi's strategy yielded dividends in the 1983 state elections and the Congress won 26 seats, while the NC secured 46. Barring an odd constituency, all the victories of the Congress were in the Jammu and Ladakh regions, while National Conference swept the Kashmir Valley. The 1983 election established the model for any future Congress-NC alliance - the Congress allotting itself seats mainly in the Jammu and Ladakh regions, while the National Conference limiting itself to the Kashmir Valley.

Farooq Abdullah was sworn in as the Chief Minister.

References
  1. Statistical Report on General Election, 1983, The Election Commission of India.
  2. Jammu & Kashmir Assembly Election Results in 1983, Elections.in website, retrieved 27 April 2017.
  3. Poke Me: BJP mustn't play the 'Jammu card' in next month's J&K elections, The Economic Times, 30 October 2014.

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:10.1525/as.1997.37.11.01p02937, JSTOR 2645738
  • Widmalm, Sten (2002), Kashmir in Comparative Perspective: Democracy and Violent Separatism in India, Psychology Press, ISBN 978-0-7007-1578-7
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