Elections for the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir were held over June 1977,1977 J&K elections which are generally regarded as the first 'free and fair' elections in the state. Jammu & Kashmir National Conference, newly revived from the former Plebiscite Front, won an overwhelming majority and re-elected Sheikh Abdullah as the Chief Minister.Statistical report J&K 1977 The Janata Party won 13 seats and emerged as the second largest party.

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.

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.;

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."

Results The National Conference won the majority in the Assembly with 47 of the 76 seats. 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.

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.

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.

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

Results by constituency + Winner, runner-up, voter turnout, and victory margin in every constituencyAssembly ConstituencyTurnout WinnerRunner UpMargin #k Names% Candidate Party Votes% Candidate Party Votes%1Karnah67.94%Ghulam Qadir Mir12,35746.31%Mohammed Yunis Khan7,64128.64%4,7162Handwara83.41%Abdul Ghani Lone17,02151.78%Sharif Ud Din14,70244.73%2,3193Langate74.63%Mohammad Sultan Ganai11,97650.04%Abdul Gani Mir3,65715.28%8,3194Kupwara62.7%Assad Ullah Shah13,78056.41%Ghulam Nabi4,83419.79%8,9465Bandipora68.45%Mohammad Khalil Naik18,03270.94%Mohammed Anwar Khan2,2999.04%15,7336Sonawari84.98%Abdul Aziz Parray21,07467.99%Mohammad Akbar Lone9,92332.01%11,1517Pattan87.37%Abdul Rashid Shaheen15,73853.99%Iftikhar Hussain Ansari12,73443.69%3,0048Gulmarg40.85%Mohmad Akbar Lone15,70078.59%Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Beg2,33411.68%13,3669Sangrama73.88%Ghulam Rasool13,60970.69%Sharif Ud Din2,10610.94%11,50310Sopore85.9%Syed Ali Shah Geelani16,71749.14%Hakeem Habibullah16,68449.04%3311Rafiabad72.21%Mohammad Dilawar Mir14,69668.52%Ghulam Rasool Kar3,51716.4%11,17912Baramulla66.78%Ghulam Ud-Din Shah11,50955.64%Ghulam Meha Safi4,47221.62%7,03713Uri68.17%Mohammad Shafi11,92165.56%Mohammed Mazaffar Khan3,30918.2%8,61214Kangan76.12%Mian Bashir Ahmed20,80887.07%Mohammed Afzi3,09012.93%17,71815Ganderbal87.27%Sheikh Abdullah26,16288.17%Ali Mohamd Taria3,50911.83%22,65316Hazratbal82.59%Hissa Ud Din23,03280.74%Mohammed Iliyas5,08117.81%17,95117Amira Kadal74.54%Ghulam Mohi-Ud-Din Shoh14,51557.74%Ghulam Mohi-Ud-Din Wani10,34041.13%4,17518Habba Kadal70.62%Ghulam Mohammed Butt16,35647.53%Jag Mohini14,08440.92%2,27219Zaina Kadal85.39%Molvi Mohammed Yasin Hamdani23,41461.79%Sheikh Ali Mohammad14,47638.21%8,93820Eidgah80.77%Abdul Rashid Kabuli18,25552.83%Ghulam Rasool Rashi16,29847.17%1,95721Zadibal81.71%Ghulam Ahmad Shunthoo23,40151.55%Salin Anwar Dhar21,52247.41%1,87922Nagin78.58%Abdul Samad Teli13,85661.51%Ghulam Mohmad Bawan8,39737.28%5,45923Beerwah72.91%Ahmad Saeed14,91860.73%Syed Ali Shah7,73731.5%7,18124Khan Sahib66.42%Hakeem Mohammad Yaseen Shah15,64773.94%Ghulam Qadir War3,81418.02%11,83325Budgam84.54%Syed Ghulam Hussain Geelani14,32449.83%Aga Sayeed Hassan11,79941.05%2,52526Chadoora77.67%Abdul Samad Mir13,10364.86%Mir Mustafa4,69923.26%8,40427Charari Sharief71.84%Abdul Rahim Rather14,76671.96%Abdul Qayoom4,76423.22%10,00228Pulwama73.27%Mohammad Ibrahim Dar18,71272.58%Abdul Kashid Wani2,5379.84%16,17529Pampore83.36%Mohiuddin Malik22,87782.11%Peer Ghulam Hassan Masoodi2,4098.65%20,46830Tral84.72%Mohammed Subhan Bhat13,31546.05%Ali Muhammad Naik11,85941.02%1,45631Wachi78.31%Ghulam Qadir Wani16,69067.04%Bashir Ahmed Magrey3,17212.74%13,51832Shopian73.06%Sheikh Mohammad Mansoor15,13359.34%Hakim Ghulam Nabi4,76318.68%10,37033Noorabad71.74%Wali Mohammad Itoo12,40758.76%Abdul Aziz Zargar5,58926.47%6,81834Devsar79.38%Ghulam Nabi Kochak14,92159.95%Manohar Nath Kaul4,62318.58%10,29835Kulgam74.92%Ghulam Nabi Dar8,83342.63%Abdul Razak Mir6,40330.91%2,43036Hom Shali Bugh81.79%Abdul Salam Deva12,95956.77%Ali Mohammed Dar5,89725.83%7,06237Pahalgam77.13%Piyare Lal Handoo14,76468.78%Ghulam Rasool Kochah4,28319.95%10,48138Srigufwara–Bijbehara84.62%Abdul Gani Shah16,05963.92%Mufti Mohammed Sayeed8,08132.16%7,97839Anantnag88.35%Mirza Mohammed Afzal Beg15,89363.13%Sheikh Abdul Majid9,28336.87%6,61040Shangus–Anantnag East77.62%Mohammed Ashraf Khan15,56870.21%Mohammed Maqbool4,16218.77%11,40641Kokernag74.91%Malik Ghulam Ud Din14,85465.52%Peer Hissam Ud Din5,33923.55%9,51542Dooru74.25%Haji Abdul Gani Khan10,81751.44%Sneer Aki Boda5,47226.02%5,34543Leh64.79%Sonam Narboo11,73661.17%Soham Gyaltsan7,45038.83%4,28644Kargil72.87%Munshi Habibullah13,54954.42%Kachoo Mohammed Ali Khan11,02144.27%2,52845Kishtwar51.1%Bashir Ahmed Kichloo3,91027.15%Ghulam Hussain Arman3,38523.51%52546Inderwal37.1%Sheikh Ghulam Mohammed 5,29644.38%Abdul Ghani Goni2,53021.2%2,76647Bhaderwah36.34%Narain Dass4,53540.96%Thakur Dass3,74533.82%79048Doda48.42%Ghulam Qadir Wani5,34239.02%Attaullah Sohrawardi4,38432.02%95849Ramban45.72%Prem Nath3,47228.64%Labhu Ram3,03525.03%43750Banihal52.67%Molvi Abdul Rashid7,46051.83%Modh. Akthar Nizami3,29022.86%4,17051Gulabgarh47.6%Haji Buland Khan8,72358.15%Mohammed Ayub Khan3,20321.35%5,52052Reasi54.7%Rishi Kumar Kaushal9,93152.84%Raghunath Das2,69914.36%7,23253Udhampur53.2%Shiv Charan Gupta9,36344.14%Faqir Chand8,76341.31%60054Chenani44.98%Bhim Singh7,67452.43%Ishar Dass4,00527.36%3,66955Ramnagar38.08%Prithvi Chand7,30053.19%Ram Dass4,07129.66%3,22956Samba62.22%Dhayan Singh6,34925.61%Harbans Singh4,72819.07%1,62157Bari Brahmana59.58%Gurnbachan Kumari8,12439.21%Gouri Shankar7,52136.3%60358Bishnah62.31%Parma Nand9,44143.17%Ram Chand7,35733.64%2,08459Ranbir Singh Pora–Jammu South74.38%Janak Raj Gupta12,60348.46%Rangil Singh7,16627.55%5,43760Jammu Cantonment55.35%Parduman Singh5,60028.6%Ved Bhasin5,42627.71%17461Jammu West53.73%Harbans Lal Bhagotra10,95654.76%Romesh Chander7,59937.98%3,35762Jammu East52.99%Ram Nath Bhalgotra13,17961.78%Amrit Kumar Malhotra5,14124.1%8,03863Jandrah Gharota61.07%Dhan Raj Bargotra8,55038.08%Ranjit Singh6,11227.22%2,43864Marh54.6%Tulsi Ram5,52732.96%Sushil Kumar4,55327.15%97465Akhnoor70.63%Dharam Pal8,63537.67%Govind Ram Sharma4,51719.7%4,11866Chhamb74.39%Ram Nath9,35238.52%Dewan Singh4,10616.91%5,24667Basohli45.32%Mangat Ram Sharma4,82929.96%Uttam Chand3,88524.1%94468Billawar54.25%Dhian Singh12,32857.57%Thakur Randhir Singh6,25829.23%6,07069Kathua60.96%Dhain Chand10,02244.9%Punjabu Ram Alias Punjab Singh9,02340.43%99970Hiranagar69.54%Girdhari Lal Dogra13,62350.39%Rattan Lal9,91236.66%3,71171Nowshera60.01%Beli Ram7,83230.89%Rattan Singh7,41629.25%41672Darhal46.9%Chowdhary Mohmmad Hussain11,43357.94%Abdul Rashid Mirza4,71723.91%6,71673Rajouri59.62%Talib Hussain9,39039.98%Mohammed Sharif7,36531.36%2,02574Surankote68.84%Aslam Chowdhary Mohammad11,60852.37%Mohammed Syed Beg9,34642.16%2,26275Mendhar65.23%Rafiq Hissain Khan6,55630.96%Mohammed Sadiq6,47930.59%7776Haveli48.26%Ghulam Ahmed8,91551.31%Lal Hussain Mustaq4,61626.57%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.

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.

Commentary All the elections held in Jammu and Kashmir before 1977 were plagued with corrupt electoral practices. 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. 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.

References

Bibliography