Assembly by-polls: Congress awaits high command’s decision on Nagrota, Budgam

Jammu, Oct 19: Amid ‘peace overtures’ by the alliance partner National Conference (NC) after facing flak for “its betrayal in nomination for Rajya Sabha biennial polls”, J&K Congress is awaiting its high-command’s decision vis-à-vis Nagrota, Budgam assembly by-polls.

Badly bruised Congress, so far, has not responded, at least not publicly, to the Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s statements expressing NC’s willingness to leave Nagrota seat for the alliance partner.

For the party (Congress), it is not difficult to decipher that its “now six precious votes” for Rajya Sabha (RS) are behind the NC’s gambit, a climb-down from its (NC’s) earlier hard-posturing.

Still the J&K (Congress) unit is waiting for its central leadership to take a final call. Its central leadership is mulling over all prospects in the backdrop of what has been witnessed during the RS poll nomination process.

Will the party decide to contest the Budgam seat as well? This question, so far, is in the realm of speculation.

However, as far as Nagrota assembly segment is concerned, the Jammu Congress unit is very keen to go full throttle in the fray. But with just 24-hours at its hand to file the nomination, the party has yet to name its candidate.

October 20 is the last day for filing nomination for Budgam and Nagrota assembly by-polls.

So far, senior leader Thakur Balwan Singh was being perceived as a front-runner as Congress candidate for Nagrota but no final decision was taken as yet with the leadership leaving all options open for it, till the last moment.

The party insiders are not ruling even the prospect of contesting Nagrota as a united coalition, at the moment. However, at the moment, they don’t give credence to the “prospects being floated in the political circles” vis-à-vis offering support to Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party-I candidate and former minister Harsh Dev Singh, who is part of INDIA Bloc.

“Why should the party support an outsider, when the party has its own candidate and a strong base in the constituency?” they question.

However, when all these queries were posed to the Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) chief spokesperson Ravinder Sharma, his precise reply was, “Our decision is still pending. Our Jammu unit has approached the high command conveying that a spirited contest at Nagrota will be a good opportunity to show our strength. The Central leadership’s decision is awaited. It is expected at any moment.”

Meanwhile, as far as Nagrota assembly segment is concerned, two strong candidates have already thrown their hats in the fray – BJP’s Devyani Rana and JKNPP-I candidate Harsh Dev Singh- ensuring that the constituency witnesses a good fight. Both filed their nominations papers on October 18, 2025.

Devyani, who is fighting her maiden electoral fight to reclaim the political legacy of her father, late Devender Singh Rana – former MLA Nagrota, Sunday morning shared her pics on a social media site with her grandmother seeking her blessings, before embarking on a political journey, officially.

“Sought blessings from our revered dear grandmother as I filed my nomination papers to contest from Nagrota assembly constituency…,” Devyani posted.