We will win both seats, says Omar in Budgam

Omar, who had won assembly elections from Budgam and Ganderbal seats last year, had retained Ganderbal and vacated the seat that necessitated polls in Budgam assembly constituency

Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah on Friday expressed confidence that the National Conference will win both Budgam and Nagrota seats.

J&K CM Omar Abdullah during campaign in Budgam on Friday. (ANI)

“On both seats atmosphere is in our favour and we will win. Now last 2 to three days have left and we have to do more hardwork and reach out to those voters to whom we haven’t reached yet and motivate them to vote for the National Conference,” CM Omar said, during campaigning in Budgam on Friday.

Omar, who had won assembly elections from Budgam and Ganderbal seats last year, had retained Ganderbal and vacated the seat that necessitated polls in Budgam assembly constituency.

Omar, while campaigning, told reporters that he never wanted to contest assembly polls from two seats but was compelled to do so. “I had told my colleagues that I would not contest in two seats, but this is not an appropriate time to present the reality. A day will come when everything will be shared with you,” he said.

During the campaign at various places in the constituency, the CM was accompanied by many legislators and sought votes for party candidate Aga Mahmood.

Asked about the absence of his party’s Lok Sabha MP, Aga Ruhullah Mehdi, who has represented this Shia-dominated seat thrice, Omar replied that his party had never forced anyone to campaign.

“Those who want to campaign do out of their own free will, and those who do not wish to will not. That is perfectly ok; I do not force anyone to campaign. But when we win, those who did not support us are not going to be part of our joy,” Omar said.

Sharing about his campaign on Facebook, Omar wrote: “Led an energetic road show through Budgam today with my colleagues, campaigning for our NC candidate Aga Syed Mahmood Mosavi. The overwhelming response from the people was a powerful reminder of their faith in the National Conference and its commitment to a better, more inclusive future.”

Omar during campaigning repeated the promise of free 200 units of electricity and advocated for smart meter installation. “We have promised the people of J&K in our manifesto that where there is less than 200 units of electricity used, we will forgo the electricity bill and make it free,” he said. “We cannot honour that promise if we don’t have the metres because consumption can’t be tracked without it,” he said, and asked people to install the electricity metre to avail the benefit.

NC candidate faces tough competition from PDP candidate Aga Syed Muntazir Mehdi who was runner up in last elections. Opposition, however targets J&K CM for running away from the constituency. “A year in power, 25 MLAs of NC and the CM return to Budgam not with development, but with demands for votes. Not one visible work as CM, yet back to seek re-election,” wrote legislator and PDP leader Waheed ur Rehman Para on X.

Para has been running campaign for the PDP candidate from last one week. The polling will take place on November 11.

No outside interference in JK’s governance: CM on no ‘Vande Mataram’ anniversary events in schools J&K CM Omar Abdullah on Friday said he did not authorise the celebration of the 150th anniversary of “Vande Mataram” in schools, saying there should be no outside dictation on such matters and no interference in governing the Union territory. “This decision has not been made by the cabinet, nor has the education minister signed off on it. We should decide what happens in our schools without outside dictation on these matters,” Omar told reporters here in the central Kashmir district. On October 30, the culture department of J&K had called for schools across J&K to participate in the commemoration of the 150th anniversary of “Vande Mataram.” This order faced strong backlash from the Mutahida Majlis-e-Ulema (MMU), an alliance of several religious organisations in J&K, which demanded the immediate withdrawal of what they termed a “coercive order,” arguing that parts of the song contradicted Islamic beliefs regarding monotheism