NEW YORK, Feb. 12 (APP):US Senator and Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, who has consistently sought justice for the suffering people of Kashmir and Palestine, Tuesday night won New Hampshire’s Democratic presidential primary with former front-runner Joe Biden trailing badly.
Sanders, a 78-year-old leftist with a progressive agenda for the welfare of American people, got 25.8% of the vote, leading Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, by 1.4 points with 84% of New Hampshire precincts reporting on Tuesday night.
Bernie’s agenda — amonng other things — will create jobs, raise wages, protect the environment, provide healthcare for all, increase access to higher education, reform immigration and criminal justice systems, reaffirm civil rights, promote a more sensible foreign policy, and reduce the influence of money in politics.
“Let me say tonight, that this victory here is the beginning of the end for (President) Donald Trump,” he told a raucous New Hampshire crowd after his victory was announced.
“With victories behind us, popular vote in Iowa, and the victory here tonight, we’re going to
Nevada, we’re going to South Carolina, we’re going to win those states as well.”
Tonight I want to take my opportunity to express my appreciation and respect for all of the
candidates we ran against: Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar, Elizabeth Warren, Joe Biden, and what I can tell you, with absolute certainty and I know I speak for every one of the Democratic candidates is that no matter who wins, and we certainly hope it’s going to be us, we are going to unite together and we are going to defeat the most dangerous president in modern history.”
Speaking at the annual conference of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) in September last year, Sanders called India’s repressive actions in Jammu and Kashmir “unacceptable – The communications blockade must be lifted immediately, and the United States government must speak out boldly in support of international humanitarian law and in support of a UN-backed peaceful resolution that respects the will of the Kashmiri people.”
Crucially, Sanders used the words ‘Kashmiri people’ a not-so-subtle signal that he accepts
the existence of Kashmir as an independent political entity.
On Palestinian rights, Sanders has supported a two-state solution, emphasizing that “we
must treat the Palestinian people with the respect and dignity they deserve.”
Meanwhile, Buttigieg told his supporters in Nashua, New Hampshire, that he admired his
competitor Sanders when he was in high school. “I admired Sen. Sanders when I was a
high school student. I respect him greatly to this day, and I congratulate him on his strong
showing tonight.”
Senator Klobuchar, looking for a breakthrough after a strong debate performance on Friday, was in third with 20%. Warren was able to capture just 9.4 percent of the vote and Biden, the former vice president, took fifth in the early results with 8.5%.
Sensing the disappointing result, Biden left New Hampshire for South Carolina before the
results began rolling in.
The results thinned the field of Democrats wanting to beat President Donald Trump in the
Nov. 3 election, with businessman Andrew Yang and Senator Michael Bennet dropping out
after the polls closed.
This comes after Buttigieg took the lead among other rival candidates in Iowa’s caucuses
last week.
Buttigieg was officially awarded the most delegates from Iowa’s caucuses after a
recanvass of 55 precincts was completed, holding a 0.1% lead over Sanders in the
state delegate equivalent count.
Combined with Iowa delegates, Buttigieg now has a total of 23, whereas Sanders has
21 and Klobuchar has 7. At least 1,991 delegates will be needed for any candidate to win
the nomination.
President Trump also defeated his remaining Republican challenger in the New Hampshire
primary Tuesday night.
Trump got about 85 percent of the vote, while Bill Weld, the former governor of neighbouring Massachusetts, was a distant second, capturing just over 12 percent with more than half of precincts reporting.
