- Winning party has to avoid celebrations due to deaths
National Conference president Dr Farooq Abdullah on Saturday declared winner in the by-polls to the Srinagar-Budgam Lok Sabha seat, beating his rival Nazir Ahmad Khan, leader of the People’s Democratic Party, by a margin of over 10,700 votes.
Election officials said that Abdullah received 48,554 votes against Nazir, who got 37,779 votes. There were seven other candidates in the fray. The polling for the seat was held on April 9 amid large-scale violence that left more than eight persons dead and several dozen others injured.
The constituency had recorded an abysmal 7.13% turnout, the lowest-ever in its history. The Election Commission had ordered re-polling in 38 polling stations in violence-hit areas on April 13. This will be the third term as Lok Sabha member for Abdullah, whose victory is being seen as a major setback for the ruling party.
Abdullah, a former state chief minister, was earlier elected to the Lok Sabha in 1980 and 2009. “This vote is for the rejection of the PDP,” Abdullah said after he was declared winner. As a mark of respect to the eight youths killed in firing by the Indian forces on April 9, NC workers did not celebrate the win of their party president.
The by-polls to the seat was necessitated after the then PDP leader Tariq Hamid Karra resigned in protest against the atrocities inflicted upon the people during the unrest triggered by the killing youth icon Burhan Wani last year.
