Srinagar: Contrary to speculations that by-elections to two assembly constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir will be held with Delhi assembly polls, the chief election commissioner on Tuesday cited snowfall as a reason not to hold by-polls on the two vacant seats in the union territory.
Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar while announcing the poll schedule for Delhi assembly elections today said that polls in the two seats of Budgam and Nagrota will be held later, before April.
“There are two constituencies in J&K which are due for elections- Budgam and Nagrota. Because of the snow conditions, we will do it later. We still have time till April, but before that we will complete those elections,” Kumar said.
Nagrota in Jammu's Udhampur fell vacant after the death of sitting BJP legislator Davender Singh Rana while Budgam was vacated by chief minister Omar Abdullah, who also contested Ganderbal and retained the same.
Rana died on November 1 in a Haryana hospital due to illness while Omar vacated the seat as he had contested assembly elections on Ganderbal segment also. Being the NC leader's family bastion, Ganderbal was retained by Omar.
Rana's daughter Devyani Rana is likely to fill her father's political shoes by contesting elections on Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ticket from Udhampur. Devyani was recently picked up by BJP as its vice president for its youth wing, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM).
However, the BJP leadership in Jammu is tight-lipped about the declaration of the candidate from Nagrota yet, saying that the central leadership will take a final call.
A senior leader of the party told ETV Bharat that Devyani will be the “most probable” candidate from Nagrota given the way the party is supporting her and how Devyani has reached out to the public since the death of her father.
“There are many BJP leaders who want to contest in Nagrota and they spread speculations and different theories in Nagrota and Jammu political circles. But Devyani is being supported by the BJP cadre and leadership, so she has the highest chances of being the candidate and winning also,” the leader said.
In Budgam assembly segment, NC is yet to decide the final candidate for the by polls. The seat is a bastion of Aga Ruhullah Mehdi, the NC MP, who is very vocal about Kashmir-centric issues.
Ruhullah has been undefeated since 2002 from Budgam and won its thrice in 2002, 2008, and 2014. Being an MP, he didn't fight the 2024 assembly elections and in his place Omar contested the polls when there was all talk about Ruhullah's uncle Aga Syed Mehmood being the candidate.
An NC leader said that the party leadership has yet to decide anything on Budgam seat. He said the candidate will be decided by NC president Dr Farooq Abdullah and CM Omar Abdullah in consultation with Aga Ruhullah.
“Since the seat is Aga's stronghold, no candidate can win without his support,” the leader said.
Read more:
