Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said on Friday that all political parties have joined hands against the National Conference ahead of the by-election in Budgam Assembly constituency because ‘the NC stands firm on its electoral promises’. Addressing a poll campaign for the NC candidate, Aga Mehmood in Budgam, Omar Abdullah said, “All political parties have joined hands against the NC now because we have committed one ‘sin’ and that is, to have stood firm on our electoral promises.
In the 2014 elections, one political party asked you to vote for them, promising that they would keep the BJP out of power in Jammu and Kashmir. You voted for them, and then the same party brought the BJP to power and started destroying the state.” “NC stands firm on its electoral promises, and we will fulfil all the promises made to the voters in the 2024 Assembly elections,” Omar Abdullah said. Bypoll is being held for the Budgam Assembly seat on November 11.
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The seat fell vacant after Omar Abdullah resigned from this seat, as he won two Assembly seats — Budgam and Ganderbal in the 2024 elections. Omar Abdullah chose to resign from Budgam and represent the Ganderbal Assembly seat in the 90-member J&K Legislative Assembly. The NC has fielded Aga Mehmood from Budgam, while the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has fielded Aga Syed Muntazir Mehdi, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has fielded Aga Mohsin, while another candidate, Muntazir Mohiuddin, is fighting this election as an Independent candidate after he resigned as the chief spokesperson of Altaf Bukhari headed Apni Party to contest this bypoll.
Interestingly, NC MP Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi, who belongs to Budgam, has distanced himself from the NC poll campaign. Ruhullah maintains that he cannot ask people to vote for the party on the same promises made during the 2024 Assembly elections, as these remain unfulfilled. By-election is also being held on November 11 in the Nagrota Assembly constituency, Jammu district. The seat fell vacant after the BJP candidate, Devender Singh Rana, passed away on October 31, 2024. BJP has fielded Devender Singh Rana’s daughter, Devyani Rana, for the Nagrota bypoll.