Of the 468 Independent candidates in the fray this time, only four have managed to win. Tsetan Namgyal won from Nobra constituency in Ladakh, Charanjit Singh won from Kathua segment, Ashwani Kumar Sharma retained the Bishnah constituency and Rashid Sheikh won the Langate constituency in the Valley.

It was an election of high expectation for all of these candidates who hoped to cash in on the anti-political party wave that was prevalent throughout the state during the Amaranth land row.

Many of the Independent candidates were rebels from the Congress, the PDP and the NC. In 2002, Independent candidates had won 15 seats and had played an important role in the formation of the Government and this time too, political pundits had predicted that Independents will have a say in Government formation. But all this speculation proved short-lived with the defeat of most of the Independent candidates.

“It is victory of my supporters and I will try to fulfill their aspirations,” said Ashwani Kumar, who won the Bishnah seat in 2002 as a Jammu State Morcha (Progressive) candidate. Charanjeet Singh, who swept the Kathua constituency, won the seat riding on the Amarnath wave. Singh is a former Government employee and had played an important role during the agitation. “People were fed up with the political parties and the discriminatory policies adopted by them during past decades,” he said.