Voting to decide the fate of 17 candidates in the 27—Budgam assembly constituency began on Tuesday under tight security arrangements, officials said.
Despite the cold, polling began at 7 am at 173 polling stations across the constituency and was proceeding smoothly, they said. Voting for the seat would end at 6 pm. The Budgam assembly constituency has more than 1.26 lakh registered voters, and all necessary arrangements, including tight security cover, are in place to ensure smooth voting.
The by-poll is being seen as a litmus test for Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s government and his party, the National Conference (NC).
The seat had fallen vacant after Abdullah vacated it following his election from the family bastion of Ganderbal as well in last year’s assembly polls. Budgam has also been a bastion of the National Conference; the party has lost the seat only once, in 1972, when Congress defeated the NC candidate.
The party has never lost the seat since 1962. However, the test this time around is different for the NC. NC Lok Sabha MP from Srinagar, Aga Ruhullah Mehdi, won the Budgam seat in the 2002, 2008, and 2014 Assembly polls, before Abdullah emerged victorious from here in 2024.
There are 17 candidates in the fray, with Aga Syed Mehmood of the ruling National Conference facing a stiff challenge from the PDP’s (People’s Democratic Party) Aga Muntazir.
Besides the two Shia candidates, other key candidates include the BJP’s Syed Mohsin, Awami Ittehad Party’s Nazir Ahmad Khan, Aam Aadmi Party’s Deeba Khan, and independent candidate Muntazir Mohiuddin.
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