2014 Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections

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All 87 seats inLegislative Assembly 44 seats needed for a majority
Registered	7,316,946
Turnout	65.91% ( 4.75%)
Majority party Minority party   Leader Mufti Mohammad Sayeed Nirmal Kumar Singh Party JKPDP BJP Leader's seat Anantnag (won) Billawar (won) Last election 21 11 Seats won 28 25 Seat change 7 14 Popular vote 10,92,203 11,07,194 Percentage 22.67% 22.98% Swing 7.31pp 10.55pp   Third party Fourth party   Leader Omar Abdullah Ghulam Nabi Azad Party JKNC INC Leader's seat Beerwah (won),Sonawar (lost) Did not contest Last election 28 17 Seats won 15 12 Seat change 13 5 Popular vote 10,00,693 8,67,883 Percentage 20.77% 18.01% Swing 2.27pp 0.29pp
Chief Minister before election Omar Abdullah JKNC (in coalition with theINC) ElectedChief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed PDP (in coalition with theBJP)

The2014 Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly election was held in theIndian state ofJammu and Kashmir in five phases from 25 November – 20 December 2014. Voters elected 87 members to theJammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly. The results were declared on 23 December 2014.^[1][2]Voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) along with EVMs were used in 3 assembly seats out of 87 in Jammu Kashmir elections.^[3][4][5] Following the election, theJammu & Kashmir People's Democratic Party (PDP) formed a coalition government with theBJP and their leader,Mufti Mohammad Sayeed became the state's Chief minister.BJP leaderNirmal Kumar Singh became the deputy chief minister.

This was the last assembly election before the territory'sspecial status was revoked^[6] andLadakh separated as union territory in 2019.^[7]

Before the election,Indian National Congress broke its alliance withJammu and Kashmir National Conference and contested on all seats in the assembly.^[8]

Campaigning before the elections were aggressive and robust. Following the huge victory ofBharatiya Janata Party in the Indian parliamentary election, the BJP turned its attention towards J&K and campaigned on the promise of 'development'. This included a visit from the Prime Minister of India,Narendra Modi in support of the local BJP campaign.

• Hardline separatistAll Parties Hurriyat Conference leaderSyed Ali Shah Geelani had appealed to people of Kashmir to boycott the 2014Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly elections completely, arguing that "India has been holding elections in the Valley using the power of the gun and so such an exercise is not legitimate." He added, "My appeal to the youth, in particular, is that the sacrifices rendered by the people must be safeguarded and, hence, in no way should vote during elections."^[9][10]
• Separatists were propagating the poll boycott campaign through video clips on social networking sites and applications, includingFacebook andWhatsApp.^[9]
• A four-minute video clip has gone viral on social sites with messages of chairmen of both hardline and moderate factions of Hurriyat Conference and Dukhtaran-e-Millat chiefAsiya Andrabi. The video message sent through WhatsApp and shared on Facebook and Twitter asked the people to boycott the coming polls.^[9]
• Video also showed Hurriyat hawkSyed Ali Shah Geelani addressing a gathering via phone urging youth not to undermine the mission of 'martyrs'. Moderate Hurriyat chairmanMirwaiz Umar Farooq is seen posing for the camera with the appeal that polls must be boycotted 'en masse'.^[9]

Despite these calls, voter turnout in the 2014 elections instead increased by 4%, from roughly 61% in the previous election to 65%.

The polls were carried out in five phases. Despite several boycott calls by hurriyat leaders, elections recorded highest voters turnout in last 25 years. Voters turnout was more than 65% which is higher than usual voting percentage in other states ofIndia.^{[11][12][13][14]}

TheEuropean Parliament, on the behalf ofEuropean Union, welcomed the smooth conduct of the State Legislative Elections in the Jammu and Kashmir.^[20] TheEU in its message said that, "The high voter turnout figure proves that democracy is firmly rooted in India. The EU would like to congratulate India and its democratic system for conduct of fair elections, unmarred by violence, in the state of Jammu and Kashmir".^[20][21][22] The European Parliament also takes cognizance of the fact that a large number of Kashmiri voters turned out despite calls for the boycott of elections by certain separatist forces.^[21] However, elected Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed said, "If God forbid the Hurriyat and the militants tried to disrupt the elections there would not have been as participative as they had been. They (Pakistan) also allowed these elections to take place." Ruling Party president Mehbooba Mufti also defended Mufti's remarks.^[23] While taking a dig at Mufti's statement formerChief minister of Jammu and Kashmir and leader of opposition inRajya SabhaGhulam Nabi Azad said that, "In fact, Pakistan and militant groups tried their best to destabilize the democratic process in the state."^[24][25]

Results^[26]

Party		Popular vote			Seats
		Votes	%	±pp	Contested	Won	+/−
	Jammu and Kashmir People's Democratic Party	10,92,203	22.67	7.31	84	28	7
	Bharatiya Janata Party	11,07,194	22.98	10.55	75	25	14
	Jammu & Kashmir National Conference	10,00,693	20.77	2.27	85	15	13
	Indian National Congress	8,67,883	18.01	0.29	86	12	5
	Jammu & Kashmir People's Conference	93,182	1.93	1.93	26	2	2
	Communist Party of India (Marxist)	24,017	0.50	0.30	3	1	–
	Jammu & Kashmir National Panthers Party	95,941	1.99	1.40	60	0	3
	Independents	3,29,881	6.85	9.49	274	3	1
	Others	1,57,858	3.28	2.59	138	1	1
	NOTA	49,129	1.02	1.02	87
Total		48,17,981	100
Valid votes		48,17,981	99.90
Invalid votes		4,795	0.10
Votes cast/ turnout		48,22,776	65.91
Abstentions		24,94,170	34.09
Registered voters		73,16,946

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Three days after the results, theJKNC approached the BJP for a meeting to try and form a government^{[citation needed]}. As part of the deal,Nirmal Kumar Singh was to be the chief minister and JKNC's MLAAli Mohammad Sagar was to be his deputy.^{[citation needed]} The deal fell through after a revolt in the JKNC. The BJP also rejected this deal, citing morality issues.^{[citation needed]}

In the following days, the JKNC also announced its intention to support thePDP from outside by submitting a letter to the governorNarinder Nath Vohra after the dialogue with the BJP fell through. The PDP refused.

A week after the results, the PDP and the BJP officially started talks. Both parties had a two-member team to form a Common Minimum Programme (CMP). The PDP was represented byNaeem Akhtar andHaseeb Drabu, whileRam Madhav and Nirmal Kumar Singh represented the BJP. Minister of State in the PMO,Jitendra Singh, supervised the dialogue.

Omar Abdullah resigned as chief minister on 24 December. The GovernorNarinder Nath Vohra accepted his resignation but asked him to continue in an interim capacity until the formation of a new government.President's rule was imposed on 1 January 2015.

After dealing with issues, both parties turned their attention to the composition of the cabinet. The PDP was initially reluctant for a three-year rotation of the chief minister's post but later agreed. There were also issues related to the joining of the government by separatist-turned-politicianSajjad Lone. In the run-up to the election, he met Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and praised him by calling him "big brother." The BJP reciprocated by not running a candidate against Lone for the Handwara seat, from where he won, and got elected to the assembly for the first time.

Both parties announced on 25 February that the CMP was almost ready, in a joint press conference called by BJP national PresidentAmit Shah and PDP PresidentMehbooba Mufti. They also stated that the ideological differences had been "ironed out" and both parties were now working on the formation of a cabinet. The dialogue between both parties ended successfully on 18 February - two months and 5 days after the beginning of talks.

The new PDP-BJP government took the oath of office on 1 March in the Zorawar Singh Stadium of Jammu, withMufti Mohammad Sayeed as chief minister for the full term of six years andNirmal Kumar Singh as his deputy. Modi was also present for the occasion. Twelve cabinet ministers from each party were also sworn in. This was the first time that the BJP was a coalition partner in the Jammu and Kashmir government. Lone and independent MLA for Udhampur, Pawan Kumar Gupta, were also sworn in as cabinet ministers from the BJP's quota.

The CMP was then released in a press conference. The CMP gave a vision of the "all-around development of Jammu and Kashmir" and "Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas" (with everyone, everyone's development). Contentious issues likeArticle 370 andAFSPA would be referred to a high-power committee, with representation from both parties and civil society. The PDP also agreed to join the NDA's central, with Mehbooba Mufti's induction into the union cabinet, at a later date, and also support the Modi government in both houses of parliament.

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• 2014 Kashmir Valley attacks
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