The Budgam Assembly election is heading for a close contest between the National Conference (NC) and People’s Democratic Party (PDP), polling, for which is scheduled to take place on Tuesday.
Experts have predicted a tight race because both parties have fielded prominent candidates from the Shia community.
On Friday, multiple parties, including NC, PDP, Apni Party, and AIP, campaigned for their respective candidates.
Apni Party organised its largest event in Humhama near the Srinagar international airport. Hundreds of supporters came out in support of local candidate Mukhtar Ahmad Dar.
Similarly, NC held its largest campaign event in Budgam, where Omar Abdullah, alongside senior NC leadership, sought support for their candidate Aga Mehmood, a former cabinet minister in the NC government.
PDP also campaigned in Budgam for its candidate, Aga Muntazir, who lost to Omar Abdullah in the 2024 elections.
Also Read: EC notice to PDP candidate for MCC violation in Budgam
The ruling National Conference does not appear to be too confident this time around, since its votes may split among multiple independent candidates.
People in the Budgam constituency are unhappy; this particular constituency was ignored despite being an NC base for decades. It received little to no attention from the government, like others.
Adding to NC’s problems is the ongoing feud between the CM Omar Abdullah, and his fellow party member and MP Srinagar Aga Syed Mehdi Ruhullah.
Mehdi has categorically rejected taking part in party campaigning owing to the reasons that the party did not fulfil its commitments as promised in the manifesto, and that he won’t compromise on his principles, since his own party betrayed the mandate given to Omar Abdullah.
Ruhullah, who has distanced himself from active campaigning, remains at odds with his party on issues like reservation rationalisation.
His silence has triggered speculation that a section of his Mustafai support base may tilt towards the PDP.
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