Ruling NC suffers major setback in J&K by-polls; PDP, BJP emerge victorious

In a strong electoral setback for the ruling National Conference (NC), PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti secured a major victory on Friday as her party’s candidate, Aga Syed Muntazir Mehdi, defeated NC nominee Aga Syed Mahmood Al-Mosavi in the Budgam by-poll by a convincing margin. The NC also faced defeat in the Nagrota seat. By-poll was held for two assembly seats — Budgam and Nagrota.

In the Nagrota by-election, BJP’s Devyani Rana secured an emphatic win, defeating her closest rival, Harshdev Singh of the J&K National Panthers Party, by an impressive margin of 24,647 votes. However, BJP’s Aga Syed Mohsin Mosvi forfeited his security in the Budgam seat after polling only 2,619 votes.

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The Budgam contest was widely seen as a litmus test for the leadership of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who has been under pressure from factions within his own party. The NC’s defeat in its traditional stronghold — by 4,478 votes — has come as a morale booster for the PDP, which had won only three seats in last year’s Assembly elections.

Within a year of forming the government in J&K, the NC lost the Budgam seat that Omar Abdullah had earlier won by a margin of 18,485 votes against the PDP’s Muntazir. However, Muntazir has now defeated the NC candidate in the by-election.

The by-elections were necessitated after Omar Abdullah vacated the Budgam seat following his simultaneous victory in Ganderbal. The Nagrota seat fell vacant after the death of BJP MLA Devender Singh Rana, just a fortnight after he was sworn in. Devyani Rana is his daughter.

The NC enjoyed a strong footing in Budgam — a seat the party has won in 10 of the 11 elections held so far. However, its position appeared weak as Omar campaigned there single-handedly. NC MP Aga Ruhullah, who had earlier won the Budgam assembly seat three times, kept himself away from the campaign and instead issued statements against Omar Abdullah.

After the defeat of the NC candidate, in an apparent jibe at Omar Abdullah, Ruhullah wrote on X; “Arrogance is the recipe for disaster. Consciousness, humility, and introspection is the way.”

Accompanied by hundreds of party activists, Mehbooba greeted her party’s winner, Muntazir. She wrote on X, “Hats off to the people of Budgam for placing their faith and trust in PDP’s Aga Muntazir.”

Nagrota recorded a high voting percentage of 75%, whereas 50.1 of % votes were cast in Budgam.

NC’s Shamim Begum finished third in Nagrota, polling 10,872 votes, 31,478 less than BJP’s Devyani Rana. AAP candidate Joginder Singh forfeited his security deposit after polling just 359 votes.

Veteran leader Harshdev Singh, a three-time Ramnagar MLA (1996, 2002, 2008), who lost in 2014 and 2024, made his debut in Nagrota as his traditional seat has been reserved.