Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has decided to vacate the Budgam assembly seat, opting to retain his stronghold in the Ganderbal constituency. The announcement of dropping the Budgam seat was announced by the pro-tem speaker Mubarak Gul on Monday.
While the move reduces the National Conference’s strength in the 95-member house to 41, the party still enjoys a comfortable majority, thanks to the support of its allies, including Congress, AAP and CPI(M).
Omar Abdullah, the son of National Conference president Farooq Abdullah, won both the Budgam and Ganderbal seats in the recently concluded Jammu and Kashmir elections. From the Budgam assembly constituency, Omar secured a win against PDP candidate Aga Syed Muntazir Mehdi by a margin of 18,485 votes.
However, Omar’s decision to retain the Ganderbal seat is viewed as a strategic move to preserve the Abdullah family’s political legacy. Ganderbal, a constituency that has been represented by the Abdullah dynasty for generations, holds immense symbolic significance for the National Conference.
The Ganderbal seat has a rich history, with both Omar’s grandfather, Sheikh Abdullah, the founder of the National Conference, and his father, Farooq Abdullah, having held the seat multiple times. This decision to retain Ganderbal signifies the family’s deep-rooted connection to the constituency and its continued political dominance in the area.
