"Taking this as a challenge...": Omar Abdullah optimistic over Budgam bypoll outcome

Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], October 27 (ANI): Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday described the upcoming Budgam bye-election as a major political challenge, citing the complex voter distribution and internal political dynamics in the region.
Expressing optimism, Abdullah said he was confident that the people of Budgam would make the "right choice," emphasising that voters are more concerned with everyday issues such as electricity, roads, water supply, employment, health, education, welfare schemes, and transport.
"We are taking this bye-election as a challenge, and this challenge is multiplied by the complexities of the voter distribution in Budgam. It is also multiplied by some elements of internal politics that are playing out. I am hopeful that the people of Budgam will make the right choice... I am sure that they are concerned with their day-to-day issues such as electricity, roads, water, employment, health, education, welfare schemes, and transport," CM Abdullah told the media.
National Conference's Agha Mehmood will be up against PDP candidate Aga Syed Muntazir Mehdi in the Budgam bye-election. AAP has also fielded Deeba Khan from the constituency.
Omar Abdullah had won both Ganderbal and Budgam seats comfortably in the 2024 Assembly election against the PDP.
On October 6, the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced that bye-elections for eight assembly constituencies across seven states and Union Territories will take place on November 11.
The results will be announced on November 14, alongside the Bihar Assembly polls results.
Further, the J-K CM expressed reservations over the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar, urging the Election Commission not to hasten its implementation nationwide.
He said it was too early to judge whether those conducting the SIR would truly benefit from it and emphasised that any assessment should wait until the Bihar election results are declared.
"There have been some concerns and complaints about the SIR in Bihar. It is not yet clear whether those conducting the SIR will benefit from it. Let the Bihar elections be completed first. Only after that can we assess whether the SIR has truly been beneficial. Only then can we consider implementing it in the rest of the country. Since the results in Bihar have not yet been released, the Election Commission should not rush into this. Doing so might suggest that the Election Commission is sacrificing its independence and acting under pressure from a political party...," he said.
The Election Commission of India announced today that Phase 2 of SIR (Special Intensive Revision) will be carried out in 12 States and Union Territories.
Addressing a press conference, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar said, "The voter list of all those states where SIR will be done will be frozen at 12 am tonight. All voters on that list will be given Unique Enumeration Forms by the BLOs. These Enumeration Forms will have all the necessary details from the current voter list. After BLOs start distributing forms to existing electors, all those whose names are on the Enumeration Forms will try to match whether their names were on the 2003 voter list. If yes, they need not submit any additional documents. If not their names, but the names of their parents were on the list, then too they need not submit any additional documents...The voter list of the SIR from 2002 to 2004 will be available to be seen on http://voters.eci.gov.in by anyone, and they can do the matching by themselves." (ANI)