ECI Set to Announce Bye-Poll Schedule for Budgam, Nagrota Today – Alfaaz – The Words

Alfaaz – The Words Desk

Srinagar: The Election Commission of India (ECI) is poised to announce the schedule for bye-elections to the Budgam and Nagrota assembly constituencies later today.

According to officials, the ECI will hold a press conference at 4:00 PM at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, to release the election timetable for the Bihar Assembly polls alongside several pending by-elections across India, including those in J&K.

The two assembly seats, Budgam in central Kashmir and Nagrota in Jammu region, have remained vacant since late 2024. Chief minister and National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah, who had contested and won from both Budgam and Ganderbal constituencies, vacated Budgam, choosing to retain Ganderbal. The Nagrota seat fell vacant following the demise of senior BJP leader and sitting MLA Devender Singh Rana.

As per Section 151A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, by-elections must be conducted within six months of a vacancy unless deferred under exceptional circumstances. The delay in holding these bypolls had prompted petitions in the J&K High Court, which directed the ECI, the Union Government, and the J&K administration to respond to concerns over the prolonged vacancy by early September.

In Nagrota, the by-election is expected to witness a straight fight between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the National Conference (NC)-led alliance. BJP is expected to field Devyani Rana, daughter of late Devender Singh Rana, in a bid to retain the party stronghold.

In Budgam, meanwhile, the contest is shaping up as a three-cornered race involving the NC, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and the Peoples Alliance for Change, a coalition of the Peoples Conference, Peoples Democratic Front, and Justice and Development Front (JDF).

The formal schedule, expected later this evening, will specify the dates for nomination filing, scrutiny, withdrawal, polling, and counting.