The polling for the bypolls to Budgam and Nagrota Assembly seats in Jammu and Kashmir was held peacefully and with enthusiasm among the voters on Tuesday with Budgam recording 50.01 per cent voter turnout and Nagrota on higher side at 74.82%.

The bypolls to the two Assembly seats was necessitated after Chief Minister Omar Abdullah vacated Budgam seat and retained Ganderbal seat while Nagrota seat fell vacant after the death of sitting BJP MLA Devender Singh Rana in October last year.
Braving the cold, people in large numbers came out to vote at different polling stations in Budgam.
In Nagrota, there was more enthusiasm and people including men and old, women and young reached the polling stations to cast their votes.
A total of 27 candidates were in fray from two seats including 17 from Budgam and 10 from Jammu.
There were 1,26,025 electors in Budgam Assembly Constituency and 97,980 electors in Nagrota Constituency.
To facilitate these electors, 173 polling stations were set up in Budgam and 150 polling stations were set up in Nagrota Assembly Constituency with all assured minimum facilities.
As per directions of Election Commission, 100% webcasting was done in the polling stations.
Besides, 24 Special Polling Stations, i.e. 19 in Jammu, 1 at Udhampur and 4 in Delhi were also set up for Kashmiri migrant voters registered in Budgam Assembly Constituency to facilitate their physical voting in terms of the scheme for voting by Kashmiri migrants.
The polling started at 7 am and ended at 6 pm.
“As per data received till 7:30 pm, Budgam Assembly constituency recorded a turnout of 50.01% and Nagrota Assembly seat recorded 74.82% turnout,” an official said.
A total of 157 votes were polled at Special Polling Stations in Jammu.
The lone special polling station at Udhampur recorded 11 votes and Delhi a total of 10 votes were polled by the Kashmiri migrants.
The counting of votes shall take place on November 14.
The election in Budgam is seen as a litmus test of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s government and his party the National Conference (NC).
Budgam has been a bastion of the NC with its candidates securing victory from the constituency since 1962, barring once in 1972 when the Congress candidate won from the seat.
NC Lok Sabha MP from Srinagar, Aga Ruhullah Mehdi, won from the Budgam seat in the 2002, 2008 and 2014 assembly polls, before Abdullah emerged victorious from here in 2024.
There are 17 candidates in the fray as Aga Syed Mehmood of ruling National Conference faces a stiff challenge from the PDP’s Aga Muntazir.
Besides the two Shia candidates, other key candidates include the BJP’s Syed Mohsin, Awami Ittehad Party’s Nazir Ahmad Khan, Aam Aadmi Party’s Deeba Khan, and independent candidate Muntazir Mohiuddin.
The Nagrota seat witnessed a triangular contest between BJP’s Deviyani Rana, daughter of late MLA Devender Rana; NC’s Shamim Begum and JKNPP president and former minister Harsh Dev Singh.