Advertisement
Raina, who polled 27250 votes, lost to National Conference’s Surinder Choudhary by a margin of 7,819 votes, according to data on Election Commission (EC) website.
Choudhary polled 35,069 votes.
“I have accepted the verdict of the people. I thank them for their support,” Raina told PTI.
Related Articles
Advertisement
“We have suffered a setback with the loss of the Nowshera constituency seat. We accept the people’s verdict, but the BJP is humbled by the overwhelming result in the elections. The party has also secured the highest vote share in J-K,” he added.
The BJP leader offered prayers at the historical Bawe Kali Mata temple before the start of vote counting on Tuesday morning.
Raina first entered the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly as an MLA from the Nowshera constituency at the age of 37. Prior to that, he was elected president of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJP Youth Wing) at 34 and later became the president of the Jammu and Kashmir BJP at 41.
BJP has for the first time won 29 seats in Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections.