Overview
- The contest fills the seat Omar Abdullah vacated after retaining Ganderbal in 2024, in a constituency the National Conference has held since 1977.
- Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi, now the Srinagar MP and a three-term former Budgam MLA, says he will sit out the campaign, citing loyalty to his conscience and principles.
- Ruhullah’s stance has stirred unease inside the NC and is viewed as a rebuke over the party’s approach to Article 370 and statehood.
- NC’s Mehmood defends the government’s first year as a five-year agenda in progress, PDP’s Mehdi presses local service failures and ‘abandonment’, while BJP’s Mohsin pitches development, jobs and anti-incumbency.
- The race features intertwined ‘Aga’ family ties within the Shia community, about 20 nominations on file, and reporting notes an opening for others such as independent Ghulam Mohidin Bhat if vote blocs splinter.