PDP gains lead in Budgam by-poll

Srinagar, Nov 14: Aga Muntazir Mehdi of the Peoples Democratic Party has taken a lead of 1521 votes at the end of fifth round of voting in Budgam by-poll results.

The counting of votes for bypoll in Jammu and Kashmir's Budgam began at 8 am on Friday, officials said.

As counting for the 4th round was completed, Mehdi had polled 6821 votes followed by Aga Mahmood with 5300 votes.

In the first and second rounds, Aga Mahmood of NC was leading by over 400 votes.

The counting, which would decide the fate of 17 candidates, is taking place at the Government Higher Secondary School in Budgam, they said.

Over 50 per cent of the electorate exercised their franchise in the bypoll held on Tuesday.
The final voting percentage was 50.01 per cent.

The Budgam assembly constituency had around 1.26 registered voters.

The bypoll in the assembly constituency was necessitated after Chief Minister Omar Abdullah vacated the seat after winning from both Budgam and Ganderbal in the assembly elections last year. Abdullah chose his family bastion of Ganderbal.

There were 17 candidates in the fray, with Aga Syed Mehmood of the ruling National Conference facing a stiff challenge from the PDP's (Peoples Democratic Party) Aga Muntazir.

Besides the two Shia leaders, other key candidates included the BJP's Syed Mohsin, Awami Ittehad Party's Nazir Ahmad Khan, Aam Aadmi Party's Deeba Khan, and independent candidate Muntazir Mohiuddin.