Landslide victory for Mehbooba

SRINAGAR: In what was probably her first major first test since taking over as Jammu & Kashmir chief minister, Mehbooba Mufti on Saturday won the bypolls in Anantnag

SRINAGAR: In what was probably her first major first test since taking over as Jammu & Kashmir chief minister, Mehbooba Mufti on Saturday won the bypolls in Anantnag — a PDP bastion — by a landslide.

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Mehbooba secured 17,701 votes, with her nearest rival — Congress candidate Hilal Ahmad Shah — coming a distant second with 5,616 votes. National Conference (NC) candidate Iftikhar Misger polled just 2,811 votes according to election officials.

The 57-year-old was among eight candidates in the fray for the Anantnag assembly seat which fell vacant after the death of then CM Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. This is Mehbooba’s fourth win to the state assembly from south Kashmir since she joined politics in 1996.