New Delhi: Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar on Tuesday said that bypolls to two assembly constituencies—Budgam and Nagrota— in Jammu and Kashmir will be held later.
Addressing a presser while announcing schedule for polls in New Delhi, Kumar said the bypolls will be held later due to the current snowy conditions in J&K.
“There are two constituencies in J&K which are also due for elections: Budgam and Nagrota. Because of snow conditions, we will do it later. We still have time till April; before that, we will complete the election,” he said.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah vacated the Budgam seat on October 21, while the Nagrota seat became vacant on October 31 following the passing away of Devinder Singh Rana of BJP.
According to section 151A of the Representation of Peoples Act-1951, a bye-election for filling any vacancy must be held within six months from the date of the occurrence of the vacancy.
So election of these seats has to be completed before April 20.
While the BJP is likely to field Devinder Singh Rana’s daughter, Devyani Rana, as its candidate for the Nagrota seat, NC has not openly opened cards regards its candidate.
In the 2024 J&K polls, Omar Abdullah won the Budgam seat by defeating Muntazir Mehdi by a margin of more than 18,000 votes. Devinder Singh Rana won the Nagrota seat by 30,472 votes against his nearest rival.