New Delhi: The Jammu and Kashmir elections are a "vote for democracy", said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, while National Conference's Omar Abdullah said he was confident his party would form the government. Following are some quotable quotes of prominent politicians on the huge turnout and the poll results:

- Prime Minister Manmohan Singh: "I think the large turnout in Kashmir is a vote for democracy and national integration. We are all happy at the turnout, and who wins or loses is a secondary issue."

- Congress President Sonia Gandhi: "It is not important who wins but what is important is that people of Kashmir have expressed full faith in democracy and our neighbour (Pakistan) should learn from this. It's a victory for democracy."

- Former chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad: "Independents are going to play a key role. Last time 15 independents backed Congress. It is not about which party will be number one or two. It is possible that eventually it would be a single party being backed by over twenty independents that comes to power."

- National Conference president Omar Abdullah: "We are hopeful of forming the government on our own. No question of a tie-up with the BJP."

- Abdul Rashid Shaheen of the National Conference on possible alliances of political parties: "Nobody in politics is an untouchable."

- Saifuddin Soz, state Congress chief and union water resources minister: "The Congress alone can determine the chemistry of the coalition. The Congress will do what suits the nation's interest and party objectives."

- Prithviraj Chavan, the Congress in charge of Jammu and Kashmir elections: "We would like nothing better than a stable government in Jammu and Kashmir. Separatists cannot have their say and democratic process must go on. We expected to do better than last time, but the Amarnath issue impacted the elections in the Jammu region."

 

Source : IANS