# 1996 Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly election

Elections for the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir were held over September–October 1996. Farooq Abdullah became Chief Minister of Jammu Kashmir after the elections. The 1996 Lok Sabha elections and assembly elections in the state were possible due to efforts of counter-insurgents like Kuka Parray, (head of Ikhwan-ul-Muslemoon).

## Background

The National Conference, which had boycotted the 1996 Indian general election, agreed to participate in the 1996 Assembly elections only after Prime Minister, H. D. Deve Gowda, promised "maximum autonomy" for Jammu and Kashmir.

## Results

| | Jammu & Kashmir National Conference | 863,612 | 34.78 | 57 | 17 |
| | Indian National Congress | 496,628 | 20.00 | 7 | 19 |
| | Bharatiya Janata Party | 301,238 | 12.13 | 8 | 6 |
| | Janata Dal | 269,984 | 10.87 | 5 | New |
| | Bahujan Samaj Party | 159,690 | 6.43 | 4 | New |
| | Jammu and Kashmir Awami League | 60,437 | 2.43 | 1 | New |
| | Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party | 55,885 | 2.25 | 1 | 1 |
| | Communist Party of India (Marxist) | 23,774 | 0.96 | 1 | 1 |
| | All India Indira Congress (Tiwari) | 17,473 | 0.70 | 1 | New |
| | Others | 3,090 | 0.12 | 0 | 0 |
| | Independents | 231,111 | 9.31 | 2 | 6 |
| Total | Total | 2,482,922 | 100.00 | 87 | 11 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 2,482,922 | 96.74 | | |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 83,734 | 3.26 | | |
| Total votes | Total votes | 2,566,656 | 100.00 | | |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 4,761,095 | 53.91 | | |
| Source: ECI ||||||
In the 1996 assembly elections, 14 women contested, 10 of whom lost their deposits, while 2 were elected. National Conference won 57 out of 86 seats. BSP contested first time on 29 seats in the state and won 4 seats. BJP rose from two seats in 1987 to 8 seats in 1996.

## Results by constituency

Winner, runner-up, voter turnout, and victory margin in every constituency :
| Assembly Constituency | Assembly Constituency | Turnout | Winner | Winner | Winner | Winner | Winner | Runner Up | Runner Up | Runner Up | Runner Up | Runner Up | Margin |
| #k | Names | % | Candidate | Party | Party | Votes | % | Candidate | Party | Party | Votes | % | Margin |
| 1 | Karnah | 66.07% | Kifil-Ur-Rehman Khan | | JKNC | 10,739 | 62.19% | Abdul Rahman Badana | | JD | 4,311 | 24.96% | 6,428 |
| 2 | Kupwara | 25.97% | Saifullah Mir | | JKNC | 5,766 | 37.9% | Chowdhary Salam-U-Din | | INC | 4,755 | 31.26% | 1,011 |
| 3 | Lolab | 43.82% | Mushtaq Ahmad Lone | | JKNC | 9,554 | 37.26% | Abdul Rahim Wani | | JD | 7,367 | 28.73% | 2,187 |
| 4 | Handwara | 34.82% | Mohammed Ramzan Chowdry | | JKNC | 10,937 | 66.71% | Ali Mohammed Dar | | INC | 3,017 | 18.4% | 7,920 |
| 5 | Langate | 42.67% | Abdul Ahad Wani | | JKNC | 9,734 | 61.61% | Ghulam Mohi-Ud-Din War | | INC | 2,886 | 18.27% | 6,848 |
| 6 | Uri | 70.69% | Mohammad Shafi | | JKNC | 18,117 | 53.67% | Taj Mohiuddin | | INC | 9,731 | 28.83% | 8,386 |
| 7 | Rafiabad | 43.97% | Mohammad Dilawar Mir | | JD | 9,084 | 44.2% | Ghulam Mohammed Khan | | JKNC | 5,666 | 27.57% | 3,418 |
| 8 | Sopore | 38.02% | Abdul Ahad Vakil | | JKNC | 14,441 | 64.47% | Ghulam Nabi Mircha | | INC | 2,842 | 12.69% | 11,599 |
| 9 | Gurez | 76.14% | Faqir Mohammed Khan | | Independent | 2,175 | 29.72% | Mohammed Anwar | | JKNC | 1,398 | 19.1% | 777 |
| 10 | Bandipora | 50.57% | Ghulam Rasool Mir | | JKNC | 9,625 | 38.3% | Abdul Majid | | JKAL | 5,652 | 22.49% | 3,973 |
| 11 | Sonawari | 60.94% | Mohammed Yousuf Parray | | JKAL | 15,601 | 41.15% | Mohammad Akbar Lone | | JKNC | 14,875 | 39.24% | 726 |
| 12 | Sangrama | 60.21% | Mohammed Maqbool | | JKNC | 9,779 | 48.86% | Shiekh Mohammed Sadiq | | INC | 5,160 | 25.78% | 4,619 |
| 13 | Baramulla | 37.47% | Mujahid Mohammed Abdullah | | JKNC | 7,649 | 41.28% | Mohammed Sareer Khan | | INC | 2,474 | 13.35% | 5,175 |
| 14 | Gulmarg | 65.16% | Sheikh Mustafa Kamal | | JKNC | 18,575 | 49.23% | Ghulam Hassan Mir | | INC | 16,822 | 44.59% | 1,753 |
| 15 | Pattan | 71.34% | Iftikhar Hussain Ansari | | INC | 18,868 | 45.94% | Abdul Rashid Shaheen | | JD | 10,540 | 25.66% | 8,328 |
| 16 | Kangan | 63.29% | Mian Altaf Ahmed Larvi | | JKNC | 21,553 | 90.23% | Qazi Mohammed Afzal | | INC | 954 | 3.99% | 20,599 |
| 17 | Ganderbal | 50.62% | Farooq Abdullah | | JKNC | 16,440 | 70.25% | Qazi Mohammad Afzal | | INC | 3,617 | 15.46% | 12,823 |
| 18 | Hazratbal | 23.6% | Mohmmad Syed Akhoon | | JKNC | 10,109 | 65.08% | Ghulam Mohi-Ud-Din | | BSP | 3,855 | 24.82% | 6,254 |
| 19 | Zadibal | 12.68% | Sadiq Ali | | JKNC | 2,948 | 49.08% | Abdul Hassan Bhat | | JD | 1,451 | 24.16% | 1,497 |
| 20 | Eidgah | 20.01% | Mubarak Ahmed Gul | | JKNC | 8,206 | 78.12% | Farooq Ahmad | | JD | 1,035 | 9.85% | 7,171 |
| 21 | Khanyar | 12.66% | Ali Mohammad Sagar | | JKNC | 6,194 | 87.52% | Nazir Ahmed | | JD | 607 | 8.58% | 5,587 |
| 22 | Habba Kadal | 5.37% | Piyare Lal Handoo | | JKNC | 5,984 | 59.83% | Sarla Taploo | | BJP | 1,969 | 19.69% | 4,015 |
| 23 | Amira Kadal | 11.51% | Mohammed Shafi Bhat | | JKNC | 4,256 | 63.86% | Mohammed Altaf Dar | | JD | 968 | 14.52% | 3,288 |
| 24 | Sonawar | 34.5% | Ghulam Mohammed Bawan | | JKNC | 9,873 | 58.92% | Bashir Ahmad Kuthoo | | JD | 3,137 | 18.72% | 6,736 |
| 25 | Batmaloo | 19.44% | Ghulam Mohi-Ud-Din Shah | | JKNC | 9,583 | 69.03% | Ghulam Mohammed Sheikh | | INC | 1,576 | 11.35% | 8,007 |
| 26 | Chadoora | 61.69% | Ali Mohammad Dar | | JKNC | 11,230 | 44.78% | Ghulam Nabi Mir | | INC | 6,134 | 24.46% | 5,096 |
| 27 | Budgam | 67.27% | Syed Ghulam Hussain Geelani | | JKNC | 15,360 | 41.51% | Aga Syed Mahmood | | INC | 13,766 | 37.21% | 1,594 |
| 28 | Beerwah | 70.72% | Aga Syed Mahmood Almosvi | | JKNC | 19,456 | 44.68% | Sarfarz Khan | | JD | 17,798 | 40.87% | 1,658 |
| 29 | Khan Sahib | 63.55% | Abdul Gani Naseem | | JKNC | 12,785 | 40.65% | Nazir Ahmad Khan | | JD | 6,254 | 19.89% | 6,531 |
| 30 | Charari Sharief | 64.13% | Abdul Rahim Rather | | JKNC | 19,590 | 60.31% | Ghulam Hassan Wani | | JD | 6,395 | 19.69% | 13,195 |
| 31 | Tral | 58.3% | Ali Muhammad Naik | | JKNC | 22,732 | 77.92% | Krishan Singh | | JKNPP | 2,127 | 7.29% | 20,605 |
| 32 | Pampore | 61.01% | Mushtaq Ahmad | | JKNC | 18,112 | 69.83% | Mohammed Anwar | | INC | 6,162 | 23.76% | 11,950 |
| 33 | Pulwama | 51.31% | Bashir Ahmad Nengroo | | JKNC | 12,030 | 52.46% | Syed Bashir Ahmad | | JD | 7,398 | 32.26% | 4,632 |
| 34 | Rajpora | 51.63% | Ghulam Mohi Uddin Mir | | JKNC | 15,455 | 61.2% | Naba Mir | | JD | 6,083 | 24.09% | 9,372 |
| 35 | Wachi | 50.93% | Mohammed Jabar Mir | | JKNC | 12,169 | 55.85% | Ghulam Hassan Khan | | INC | 3,113 | 14.29% | 9,056 |
| 36 | Shopian | 48.06% | Shiekh Mohammed Rafi | | JKNC | 10,340 | 49.1% | Ghulam Nabi Shah | | JD | 7,040 | 33.43% | 3,300 |
| 37 | Noorabad | 58.7% | Sakeena Akhtar | | JKNC | 12,553 | 53.12% | Gulzar Dar | | JD | 7,694 | 32.56% | 4,859 |
| 38 | Kulgam | 59.65% | Mohamad Yousuf Tarigami | | CPI(M) | 21,837 | 69.65% | Habibullah Laway | | JD | 5,671 | 18.09% | 16,166 |
| 39 | Hom Shali Bugh | 46.58% | Gul Mohammed Rafiqui | | JKNC | 5,863 | 32.2% | Mohammed Sikander | | JKAL | 3,948 | 21.68% | 1,915 |
| 40 | Anantnag | 34.18% | Safdar Ali Beg | | JKNC | 6,066 | 31.5% | Bashir Ahmad Dada | | JKAL | 5,448 | 28.29% | 618 |
| 41 | Devsar | 51.56% | Peerzada Ghulam Ahmad | | JKNC | 8,763 | 35.26% | Mohammed Yousuf | | INC | 6,777 | 27.27% | 1,986 |
| 42 | Dooru | 49.49% | Ghulam Hassan Wani | | JKNC | 10,076 | 46.05% | Ghulam Ahmad Mir | | INC | 5,175 | 23.65% | 4,901 |
| 43 | Kokernag | 39.03% | Syed Abdul Rashid | | JKNC | 11,436 | 49.88% | Abdul Rashid Rather | | JKAL | 4,145 | 18.08% | 7,291 |
| 44 | Shangus–Anantnag East | 52.35% | Abdul Majeed Mir | | JKNC | 10,703 | 44.55% | Gowhar Maqbool | | JD | 9,710 | 40.42% | 993 |
| 45 | Srigufwara–Bijbehara | 36.26% | Mehbooba Mufti | | INC | 10,051 | 45.28% | Abdul Gani Shah | | JKNC | 7,780 | 35.05% | 2,271 |
| 46 | Pahalgam | 49.51% | Abdul Kabir Bhat | | JKNC | 13,749 | 61.81% | Gulshan Akhter | | INC | 4,078 | 18.33% | 9,671 |
| 47 | Nubra | 64.46% | Tsetan Namgyal | | JKNC | 3,176 | 50.66% | Stanzin Tundup | | INC | 3,093 | 49.34% | 83 |
| 48 | Leh | 57.28% | Chering Dorjay | | INC | 16,712 | 51.52% | Sonam Wangchuk Narboo | | JKNC | 10,225 | 31.52% | 6,487 |
| 49 | Kargil | 80.54% | Qamar Ali Akhoon | | JKNC | 24,183 | 57.62% | Hassan Khan | | INC | 12,104 | 28.84% | 12,079 |
| 50 | Zanskar | 79.92% | Mohammed Abass | | JKNC | 6,855 | 46.9% | Kachoo Mohammed Ali Khan | | INC | 5,559 | 38.03% | 1,296 |
| 51 | Kishtwar | 68.49% | Bashir Ahmed Kichloo | | JKNC | 17,889 | 50.61% | Rajinder Singh | | BJP | 10,900 | 30.84% | 6,989 |
| 52 | Inderwal | 61.27% | Qazi Jalal-Ud-Din | | JKNC | 11,097 | 37.87% | Ghulam Mohammad Saroori | | Independent | 10,002 | 34.13% | 1,095 |
| 53 | Doda | 64.5% | Maulana Attaullah Suharwardy | | JKNC | 13,230 | 43.74% | Ghulam Qadir Wani | | JD | 8,065 | 26.66% | 5,165 |
| 54 | Bhaderwah | 66.73% | Sheikh Abdul Rehman | | BSP | 21,615 | 51.23% | Daya Krishan Kotwal | | BJP | 17,260 | 40.91% | 4,355 |
| 55 | Ramban | 61.26% | Bali Bhagat | | BJP | 12,359 | 46.78% | Suram Chand | | JKNC | 10,123 | 38.32% | 2,236 |
| 56 | Banihal | 52.26% | Mohammed Farooq Mir | | Independent | 10,925 | 46.69% | Molvi Abdul Rashid | | JKNC | 7,778 | 33.24% | 3,147 |
| 57 | Gulabgarh | 67.01% | Abdul Ghani Malik | | JD | 11,644 | 40.87% | Ajaz Ahmad | | JKNC | 10,688 | 37.52% | 956 |
| 58 | Reasi | 61.24% | Jagjiven Lal | | JD | 11,974 | 27.97% | Baldev Raj | | BJP | 7,072 | 16.52% | 4,902 |
| 59 | Gool Arnas | 58.29% | Abdul Wahid Shan | | JKNC | 9,783 | 44.89% | Mohammed Ayub Khan | | INC | 5,669 | 26.01% | 4,114 |
| 60 | Udhampur | 56.14% | Shiv Charan Gupta | | BJP | 22,928 | 57.83% | Balak Ram | | INC | 7,463 | 18.82% | 15,465 |
| 61 | Chenani | 47.88% | Prithvi Chand | | BJP | 10,493 | 43.08% | Krishan Chander | | INC | 7,589 | 31.15% | 2,904 |
| 62 | Ramnagar | 53.75% | Harsh Dev Singh | | JKNPP | 9,049 | 24.56% | Khalil-Allah | | BSP | 8,448 | 22.93% | 601 |
| 63 | Bani | 63.94% | Ghulam Haider Malik | | JKNC | 5,810 | 34.% | Lal Chand | | JD | 3,446 | 20.17% | 2,364 |
| 64 | Basohli | 63.6% | Chaudhary Lal Singh | | AIIC(T) | 12,140 | 38.44% | Jagdish Raj S/O Tula Ram | | INC | 7,912 | 25.05% | 4,228 |
| 65 | Kathua | 64.73% | Sagar Chand | | BSP | 12,130 | 25.26% | Lal Chand Sharma | | Independent | 11,001 | 22.91% | 1,129 |
| 66 | Billawar | 62.45% | Balbir Singh | | INC | 13,354 | 36.25% | Rajinder Singh | | JKNPP | 12,722 | 34.54% | 632 |
| 67 | Hiranagar | 60.75% | Prem Lal | | BJP | 15,922 | 35.95% | Girdhari Lal | | INC | 13,630 | 30.77% | 2,292 |
| 68 | Samba | 56.31% | Som Nath | | BSP | 14,107 | 42.08% | Swaran Lata | | INC | 8,090 | 24.13% | 6,017 |
| 69 | Vijaypur | 67.49% | Surjeet Singh Slathia | | JKNC | 17,529 | 35.75% | Manjit Singh | | BSP | 17,311 | 35.3% | 218 |
| 70 | Nagrota | 64.56% | Ajatshatru Singh | | JKNC | 7,849 | 28.32% | Dhan Raj Bargotra | | JD | 5,731 | 20.68% | 2,118 |
| 71 | Gandhinagar | 50.55% | Choudhary Piara Singh | | BJP | 19,779 | 37.6% | Harbans Singh | | JKNC | 17,142 | 32.59% | 2,637 |
| 72 | Jammu East | 47.14% | Vaid Vishno Dutt | | BJP | 19,047 | 58.67% | Raman Bhalla | | INC | 6,546 | 20.16% | 12,501 |
| 73 | Jammu West | 43.31% | Hans Raj | | BJP | 22,506 | 45.67% | Yogesh Sawhney | | INC | 10,068 | 20.43% | 12,438 |
| 74 | Bishnah | 69.8% | Jagdish Raj Dubey | | JD | 10,941 | 26.43% | Hari Chand | | BSP | 9,057 | 21.88% | 1,884 |
| 75 | Ranbir Singh Pora–Jammu South | 67.95% | Ram Chand | | BSP | 13,379 | 38.07% | Romesh Lal | | INC | 11,850 | 33.72% | 1,529 |
| 76 | Suchetgarh | 71.59% | Chuni Lal | | BJP | 7,925 | 26.28% | Gharu Ram Bhagat | | INC | 7,789 | 25.83% | 136 |
| 77 | Marh | 70.68% | Ajay Sadhotra | | JKNC | 10,072 | 29.75% | Sukh Nandan Kumar | | BJP | 9,259 | 27.35% | 813 |
| 78 | Raipur Domana | 61.69% | Sat Paul | | JD | 9,076 | 27.85% | Bansi Lal Bharti | | BJP | 6,346 | 19.47% | 2,730 |
| 79 | Akhnoor | 72.71% | Govind Ram | | JKNC | 8,855 | 21.02% | Ram Saroop | | BJP | 8,583 | 20.38% | 272 |
| 80 | Chhamb | 72.07% | Tara Chand | | INC | 12,663 | 35.15% | Tej Ram | | BJP | 12,001 | 33.31% | 662 |
| 81 | Nowshera | 62.63% | Radhay Sham Sharma | | INC | 20,238 | 50.7% | Rattan Singh | | JKNC | 10,702 | 26.81% | 9,536 |
| 82 | Darhal | 55.41% | Chowdhary Mohmmad Hussain | | JKNC | 14,969 | 40.91% | Abdul Rashid Mirza | | Independent | 9,803 | 26.79% | 5,166 |
| 83 | Rajouri | 65.45% | Mohammed Sharief Tariq | | JKNC | 25,934 | 50.73% | Chowdhary Talib Hussain | | INC | 18,048 | 35.31% | 7,886 |
| 84 | Kalakote | 54.96% | Ashok Kumar Sharma | | INC | 14,169 | 45.51% | Puran Singh Thakur | | JKNC | 4,194 | 13.47% | 9,975 |
| 85 | Surankote | 74.26% | Mushtaq Ahmed Shah | | JKNC | 27,275 | 57.78% | Aslam Chowdhary Mohammad | | INC | 18,743 | 39.71% | 8,532 |
| 86 | Mendhar | 68.59% | Nisar Ahmed Khan | | JKNC | 16,716 | 37.47% | Javed Ahmed Rana | | Independent | 14,256 | 31.95% | 2,460 |
| 87 | Poonch Haveli | 66.94% | Ghulam Mohammed Jan | | JKNC | 16,150 | 33.81% | Yeshpal Sharma | | JD | 10,722 | 22.45% | 5,428 |