National Conference vice president and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah won from Central Kashmir’s Budgam and Ganderbal constituencies in the assembly elections.
Omar Abdullah won theBudgam seat by 18,485 votes, while the margin in Ganderbal was 10,346 votes.
Both constituencies cast their votes during the second phase of the three-part elections on September 25.
Omar Abdullah on exit polls:
The 53-year-old leader is sharing various posts on X while waiting for the counting to conclude. In his latest share, he talked about exit polls. “If you pay for exit polls or waste time discussing them you deserve all the jokes/memes/ridicule. There was a reason I called them a waste of time a few days ago,” he wrote.
Omar Abdullah takes to X amid counting:
Omar Abdullah, an avid social media user, has been sharing posts about Jammu and Kashmir election results since yesterday, including rib-tickling memes. His latest shared on X shows him easing his stress about the counting day with golfing.
{{/usCountry}}Omar Abdullah, an avid social media user, has been sharing posts about Jammu and Kashmir election results since yesterday, including rib-tickling memes. His latest shared on X shows him easing his stress about the counting day with golfing.
{{/usCountry}}“Counting day 7K done. Last time around it didn’t end well for me personally. InshaAllah this time around it will be better,” the former chief minister posted along with a few spectacular photos of a golf course.
About Ganderbal and Budgam:
Ganderbal has long been a National Conference stronghold, electing three generations of the Abdullah family. NC founder Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah won the seat in 1977, followed by his son Farooq Abdullah in 1983, 1987, and 1996. Omar Abdullah was elected from the constituency in 2008. He began his political career in 1998, representing the Srinagar constituency in Lok Sabha and winning re-election in 1999 and 2004.
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In 2008, Omar left the Lok Sabha, was elected from Ganderbal, and became the chief minister in 2009, serving until 2014. In the 2014 assembly elections in the former state of Jammu and Kashmir, Omar Abdullah won from the Beerwah Assembly seat, located near Budgam.
When filing nominations for two assembly seats, Omar Abdullah had mentioned that running from both constituencies was a way to demonstrate the strength of the National Conference. He believed the political environment was in favor of his party, giving him confidence that the election results would reflect this advantage.
Omar Abdullah's stance on Article 370
Earlier, upset over the downgrading of Jammu and Kashmir to a Union Territory following the abrogation of Article 370, Omar Abdullah had declared on July 27, 2020, that he would not contest assembly elections until full statehood was restored.
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However, he softened his stance after the Election Commission of India announced the poll schedule for the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly on August 16.
As per the seat-sharing pact, the National Conference contested 51 seats and Congress 32, with a friendly contest on five seats. Two additional seats were reserved for allies, CPI (M) and the National Panthers Party.