Omar Abdullah Criticizes Exit Polls after NC-Congress Alliance Surpasses Expectations

In a surprising turn of events during the elections in the Union Territory, National Conference (NC) leader Omar Abdullah expressed his skepticism over exit polls, which had predicted a close contest but a slight advantage to the NC-Congress alliance. Abdullah’s remarks came after the actual election results, which showed a stronger performance by the alliance than anticipated.

On October 8, 2024, as the election results unfolded, Omar Abdullah mocked the exit polls on social media, stating that people deserve the “jokes/memes/ridicule” if they rely on or pay for them. Earlier, on October 5, Abdullah had dismissed media speculations about exit polls for the Jammu and Kashmir elections, referring to them as “time pass” and emphasizing that the only numbers that truly mattered would be revealed on October 8.

The election outcomes indeed validated Abdullah’s assertions as the NC-Congress alliance took a commanding lead. In Jammu and Kashmir, the NC secured three seats and was leading in 39 constituencies. Their coalition partner, the Congress, was ahead in six seats. Together, they were leading in 48 constituencies, reaching the majority mark required to form a government.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) trailed behind, winning four seats and leading in 25 others. The People's Democratic Party (PDP), which had previously allied with the BJP from 2014 until 2018, led in three seats. Additionally, seven Independents were ahead, while the Jammu and Kashmir People's Conference, Aam Aadmi Party, and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) were each leading in one seat respectively.