The Aam Aadmi Party, which came a cropper in the Haryana elections, has got some solace as it opened its account in Jammu and Kashmir for the first time.
The party's Mehraj Malik won the Doda seat in the Jammu region, defeating his nearest rival, Gajay Singh Rana of the Bharatiya Janata Party, by a margin of 4,470 votes.
While Malik had secured 22,944 votes, Rana was in second place with 18,174 votes, and Khalid Najib Suhrawardy of the National Conference was third with 12,975 votes. The rest of the candidates, including Abdul Majid Wani of Ghulam Nabi Azad's Democratic Progressive Azad Party, did not even reach the five-figure mark.
Congress candidate Sheikh Riaz Ahmed was lagging way back with just 4,087 votes.
The AAP has wrested the seat from the BJP, who had won the Muslim-majority seat in the 2014 polls, with Shakti Raj Parihar defeating sitting MLA Wani, then in the Congress, by a margin of 4,040 votes. The National Conference was in the third place then also.
Malik, who joined the AAP in 2013, is an elected District Development Council (DDC) Councilor from the Kahara constituency.
Party chief Arvind Kejriwal welcomed his party candidate's victory
"I congratulate AAP's Doda candidate Mehraj Malik for his grand victory by defeating the BJP candidate. You fought a great election," he said in a post in Hindi on X.
Kejriwal also congratulated his party for getting an elected lawmaker in the fifth state.
However, the rest of the AAP candidates in J&K did not perform as well as Malik, and in Haryana too, where the party fought alone after seat-sharing talks with the Congress failed, it failed to make a mark.
While the Congress-National Conference is set to gain a majority in J&K, the BJP seems poised to make a comeback in Haryana for the third consecutive term.
Tripura LoP urges CM to reinstall statue of communist leader & relocate Lord Ram’s idol
Tripura Leader of the Opposition (LoP), Jitendra Chaudhury on Sunday urged Chief Minister Manik Saha to re-establish the statue of the leading communist leader and former Deputy Chief Minister Baidyanath Majumder at its original place in Kailashahar after replacing an idol of Lord Ram.
With DoNER ministry's aid, cultural hub to be set up in Tripura: CM Saha
Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha said that a cultural hub would be built in the state with the financial assistance of the Union Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) Ministry, and Rs 32.5 crore has been allocated for it.
Chief Minister reviews development projects in Dhalai District
Chief Minister Prof. (Dr.) Manik Saha chaired a comprehensive review meeting today at the Manu Government Dak Bungalow to assess the progress of various development initiatives underway in Dhalai district.
Ex-MLA writes to Mayor; Urges to arrange rehabilitation of evicted vendors in Agartala
Former MLA of Tripura, Tapas Dey on Sunday wrote a letter to the Mayor of Agartala Municipal Corporation (AMC) Dipak Majumder urging him to arrange for proper rehabilitation of evicted vendors in Agartala city.
Court sends seven Bangladeshi nationals to 12days Judicial Custody
Belonia District and Session judge court sent 7 Bangladeshi nationals to 12 days of Judicial Custody after they were arrested for illegally entering Tripura by crossing the international border on Saturday late night in Belonia under South District.
Communal violence perpetrators in Murshidabad mainly outsiders, says Trinamool MP
After the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) were deployed in the district on Saturday night -- with a concentration on the nine most troubled pockets -- the members of the families affected by the violence have started coming out and narrating their horrific experiences during the last few days.
Murshidabad violence: Hindus fleeing in boats, take shelter in school; Suvendu Adhikari posts videos
Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, in a post on his X handle, said that more than 400 Hindus have been forced to flee from Dhulian, Murshidabad, cross a river and take shelter in school.