3 major parties field candidates from Aga family
Fayaz Bukhari
Srinagar, Oct 20: Candidates of all major political parties, including National Conference, People’s Democratic Party, and the Bharatiya Janata Party, filed nominations from Budgam Assembly constituency today on the last day for filing nominations papers.
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National Conference candidate Aga Syed Mehmood accompanied by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah filed his nomination papers, while People’s Democratic Party candidate, Aga Syed Muntazir Mehdi was accompanied by MLA Waheed Rehman Parra.
BJP candidate Aga Syed Mohsin also filed his nomination today. He was accompanied by Leader of Opposition Sunil Sharma.
The Budgam by-polls will be held on November 11, while counting of votes will take place on November 14.
The by-election was necessitated after Chief Minister Omar Abdullah vacated the Budgam seat, retaining traditional stronghold Ganderbal following the 2024 Assembly elections.
NC candidate Aga Syed Mahmood said that if elected he will focus on development of the constituency.
“I am hopeful for the best. We will present our agenda before the people, and I trust they will support us. The people were anxious because they lacked their elected representatives. If I am elected, development will remain my top focus,” he said.
PDP candidate Syed Muntazir Mehdi said that the people of Budgam have been left behind and continue to face several issues.
“This mandate is a responsibility to raise their concerns, resolve them, and ensure that their basic rights are upheld. I am hopeful because people have been dehumanized for too long, and now they will make sure that this comes to an end,” he said.
PDP MLA Waheed Para who was accompanying Mehdi said that reservation should be in proportion to the population, and for Budgam, people expected the Government to speak up.
“Even in the Assembly, basic issues are not being discussed. Budgam had voted for the Chief Minister; this is now a chance for the people to elect someone who is available and accessible,” he added.
BJP candidate Aga Syed Mohsin thanked the party high command for giving him the responsibility. “They trusted me, and on behalf of this trust, I am contesting from the entire Budgam constituency. Inshallah, I hope we will win,” he said.
“Look, right now, people have rejected the National Conference. When Omar Abdullah won for the National Conference, he said that wherever they have a larger margin, they will stand there, and where they have less, they will resign. But the people of Budgam fully supported him. They voted for him to win, yet they were abandoned. He resigned here,” he said.
Mohsin said that after becoming the Chief Minister he has not visited the Budgam constituency for the last one year.
“We are working towards various issues like employment and development. Today, in Budgam, we know we have worked on the ground. Roads, hospitals, school buildings, bridges—we have delivered, and we believe people will vote for us,” he said.
“The poor people here have benefited from our work, and we hope to win this time. Today, there are no strong alternatives. People want progress and development, not just promises. Whether it is the National Conference or the PDP, they are being rejected because people here want change,” he said.
AAP candidate, Deeba Khan, after filing her nomination papers said that it is tough for her as few candidates have a strong base in the constituency.
“But we are also going to give our best. We are going to give tough competition because people like us. The common man is leaning towards the party. So we will give our best, and we hope that people will also support us. Our manifesto is development-oriented. Nothing has happened so far here,” she said.
“First of all, there is a problem with electricity. There is a problem with roads. There is no connectivity. There is no clean drinking water. We want a GMC to be built here, where there are hostel facilities for children. And new specialized equipment. We want good, updated services and connectivity.”
“I especially want that the area of Soibugh should be given the status of a Tehsil because it has a large catchment area. There is a lot of population so that we can provide better services to them. It becomes easier to govern”, she added.
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