The by-elections to the Budgam and Nagrota Assembly constituencies in delivered contrasting yet decisive mandates on Friday, with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) securing a significant victory in Budgam and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) clinching an emphatic win in Nagrota.
The polls, held on November 11, witnessed peaceful voting but sharply different voter turnouts, reflecting distinct political moods in the Valley and the Jammu region.
In Budgam, PDP candidate Aga Syed Muntazir Mehdi emerged victorious by defeating National Conference (NC) nominee Aga Syed Mehmood Al-Mosavi by a margin of 4,478 votes, securing 21,576 votes. The NC candidate finished with 17,098 votes. The seat, considered a traditional stronghold of the National Conference, saw a particularly charged political contest between two influential Shia leaders.
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 according to news agency Kashmir Indepth News Service (KINS) 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. The National Conference (NC) has suffered an unprecedented setback in its traditional stronghold of Budgam, with PDP candidate Aga Syed Muntazir securing a decisive victory in the assembly by-election. This marks the first time since the inception of Jammu and Kashmir legislative assembly elections in 1957 that the NC has lost the Shia-dominated Budgam seat while in the fray.
Muntazir’s win raises the PDP’s strength in the 90-member House to four.
For decades, Budgam has remained an NC fortress. Apart from 1972—when the party boycotted elections—the NC has consistently held the seat, most notably under senior Shia leader Aga Ruhullah Mehdi, who won three consecutive terms in 2002, 2008, and 2014. Mehdi did not contest the 2024 assembly elections after being elected to the Lok Sabha from Srinagar. His subsequent estrangement from the NC leadership—over issues including reservation policy and the party’s stand on Article 370—kept him away from the bypoll campaign, a factor widely viewed as pivotal to the NC’s loss.
Despite an aggressive final push by Chief Minister Abdullah, who camped in the constituency for three days with ministers, MLAs and senior leaders, the ruling party failed to stem the PDP’s surge.
On the other hand, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti led an energetic campaign with senior party figures Waheed Para, Mohammad Fayaz and Mohammad Rafiq Naik bolstering Muntazir’s outreach.
Aga Syed Muntazir—son of prominent cleric and former separatist leader Aga Syed Hassan—joined mainstream politics in August 2024 after completing his post-graduation in law from Amity University, New Delhi. He had contested the 2024 assembly elections as well, losing to Abdullah by over 18,000 votes, with Abdullah polling 36,010 votes to Muntazir’s 17,525.(KINS) Ishtiyaq Kar
