Humiliating defeat for ruling National Conference in Budgam and Nagrota bypolls

New Delhi: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah received a big jolt when his party National Conference’s candidates, bit the dust in the Budgam and Nagrota assembly by-elections.

The Budgam seat was prestigious for the Chief Minister as he had won it by a huge margin in last year’s assembly elections.

This time, it was the People's Democratic Party (PDP) candidate Aga Syed Muntazir who defeated his National Conference rival Aga Syed Mehmood by over 4,100 votes.

In the Nagrota assembly constituency, the BJP’s Devyani Rana won by a huge margin of more than 24,000 votes and defeated National Panthers Party leader Harsh Dev Singh, while the National Conference candidate Shaimam Begum was a distant third.

The Congress abstained from fielding its candidate from the Nagrota seat as it is considered a stronghold of the BJP.

Party stalwart Aga Ruhullah refused to campaign for the party candidate as he was unhappy with Omar Abdullah’s policies.

He is currently in Germany, and his supporters boycotted the polls, resulting in a low percentage of voting in the constituency.

The Chief Minister and his cabinet colleagues vigorously campaigned in the constituency to garner support for the party's nominee, but it had no desired impact, and the party lost the electoral battle.

Similarly, the Nagrota assembly seat’s result was also disappointing for the National Conference as it was expecting support from the electorate because of the government’s decision to restore the Darbar Move, which benefits Jammu’s business community.

The Modi government had disbanded the Darbar Move practice five years back as the state exchequer had to incur huge losses.