BJP retains Nagrota with huge margin
Srinagar/Jammu: The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) wrested Jammu and Kashmir’s Budgam Assembly seat from the ruling National Conference (NC), while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) retained Nagrota Assembly seat in the results declared on Friday.
Aga Syed Muntazir Mehdi of the PDP defeated his nearest rival, Aga Syed Mehmood of the NC, with a margin of over 4,100 votes in a closely fought election in Budgam.
The distancing of NC MP, Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi, from the party campaign cost the NC many votes in the Budgam bypoll.
Ruhullah Mehdi, who belongs to Budgam, had refused to campaign for the NC due to differences with party leadership.
The bypoll was necessitated after Chief Minister Omar Abdullah vacated the Budgam seat, choosing instead to retain his family bastion of Ganderbal, from where he had also won in the 2024 Assembly elections.
Budgam has long been regarded as a bastion of the NC, which has held the seat consistently since 1962—except for a lone Congress win in 1972. The PDP victory therefore marks a symbolic political shift in central Kashmir.
Voter turnout in Budgam stood at just over 50 percent, slightly lower than the 52.27 percent recorded in last year’s elections. Despite cold weather and sub-zero morning temperatures, polling remained largely smooth across the constituency’s booths.
Addressing supporters after his victory, Aga Syed Muntazir Mehdi called the win “a result of 50 years of hard work,” adding that the people of Budgam had given “a befitting reply” to those who neglected the region.
“If change is to come in the lives of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, it begins with Budgam,” he said, stressing that the mandate would force the National Conference to fulfil the promises it had made to the people.
The electoral battle in Budgam witnessed 17 candidates in the fray, including those from the BJP, Awami Ittehad Party (AIP), Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), and independent candidates. However, the contest remained primarily between the PDP and NC, with counting trends throughout the day consistently favouring Aga Muntazir.
In a contrasting political mood, the Nagrota Assembly constituency in Jammu district recorded a robust 75 percent turnout, signalling enthusiastic public participation. Here, BJP candidate Devyani Rana, daughter of late MLA Devender Singh Rana, won by a commanding margin. She comfortably defeated her closest rival, JKNPP leader Harsh Dev Singh, while NC’s Shamim Begum trailed further behind.
The seat fell vacant following the demise of Devender Singh Rana, a prominent BJP figure in Jammu. Devyani, contesting her first election, capitalised on her father’s legacy and the party’s organisational strength in the region.
After her victory, she said she was “fortunate to have been blessed by the people of Nagrota the same way they blessed my father.” She added, “When BJP contests elections, it does so to win. You can see the results here in Nagrota as well as in Bihar.”
Nagrota has alternated between the BJP and NC over five Assembly elections since 1996. This time, the Congress did not field a candidate, nor did it formally join the NC campaign despite being partners in the UT-level alliance.
Ironically, jubilant PDP workers, who broke into celebrations immediately after their candidate was declared the winner, shouted slogans in favour of Ruhullah Mehdi as well.
In Nagrota, BJP’s Devyani Rana on Friday won the bypoll, defeating her nearest rival, Harsh Dev Singh of Panthers Party by a margin of more than 21,000 votes.
NC candidate, Shamim Begum, finished a distant third with just over 10,000 votes polled in her favour.
Celebrations started in the BJP camp in Jammu immediately after the victory of the party candidate was announced in Nagrota.
Devyani Rana is the daughter of late Devender Singh Rana, who won the Nagrota assembly seat in the 2024 Assembly elections and whose death in October last year necessitated the bypoll.
In the 90-member J&K Assembly, the BJP has 29 seats against the NC’s 41 seats, while the PDP has improved its tally to 4. (With inputs from KINS)
