Shagun Parihar won Kishtwar Assembly seat

Jammu, Oct 8: BJP candidate Shagun Parihar won the Assembly Election from Kishtwar constituency by defeating his nearest rival National Conference candidate Sajjad Ahmed Kitchloo.

Parihar, who was polled a total of 29,053 votes defeated her rival with a margin of 521 votes. However, her electoral win has more special aspects to it than just a victory.

BJP’s decision to nominate Shagun from Kishtwar made a garner support from diverse religious demographics.

Shagun Parihar holds an M.tech degree in electrical power systems and was preparing for the Jammu and Kashmir civil services examination when she was asked by the BJP to fight the election in the region marred with terrorism.

Shagun’s father Ajeet Parihar and her uncle Anil Parihar, both BJP leaders, were shot dead by terrorists on November 1, 2018, just before the panchayat polls in the Union Territory.

During her campaign, Shagun asked for votes to fight for the people who have lost their families or loved ones to terrorism.

In her first-ever electoral campaign, she asked for votes by drawing lines between those who committed atrocities and plundered businesses and those who strived to bring peace and prosperity to the district.

BJP’s selection of Parihar was also a strategic move to bridge the gap between two religious communities and bring them to the same page for peace and development in Kishtwar.

Shagun’s uncle Anil Parihar was an active leader of the region, who managed to garner support from the Muslim community of the area. He remained active in the Kishtwar politics even at the peak of the militancy.