Voters in central Kashmir’s Budgam district queued early on Tuesday outside several polling stations to vote in the by-elections.
The bypoll was necessitated after Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who had won both Budgam and Ganderbal seats in last year’s Assembly elections, vacated Budgam, choosing to retain Ganderbal. Omar had won Budgam with 35,804 votes, defeating PDP’s Aga Syed Muntazir Mehdi, who secured 17,445 votes.
A total of 17 candidates are in the fray, including seven independents, but the contest is expected to be a direct face-off between the NC’s Aga Syed Mahmood and PDP’s Aga Muntazir. The other prominent candidates include Bharatiya Janata Party’s Aga Syed Mohsin, Awami Ittehad Party’s Nazir Ahmad Khan, Aam Aadmi Party’s Deeba Khan, and Independent Muntazir Mohiuddin.
District Election Officer (DEO), Budgam, Bilal Mohi-ud-Din Bhat, last evening urged eligible voters to come out and cast their votes.
“I urge all citizens of the Constituency to come forward and exercise their democratic right to vote, thereby strengthening the foundation of participatory governance,” he said.
Officials said that men and women were seen in queues in Budgam early in the morning, patiently waiting for their turn to cast their vote.
“Voting is proceeding peacefully,” an official said, adding they are anticipating a good turnout on Tuesday.
According to official data, 1,26,025 voters are eligible to cast their votes, including 63,803 males, 62,222 females, 1,241 migrant voters, and 251 service electors. There are 797 voters above the age of 85. The Election Commission has set up 173 polling stations, all designated as critical.
In last year’s Assembly elections, Budgam recorded a voter turnout of 52.27 percent.
