NC loses both J&K bypoll seats

In Jammu and Kashmir, the ruling National Conference (JKNC) suffered a big jolt in the by- election. , the party has suffered a defeat in both the seats it contested in the Jammu and Kashmir bypoll. The party lost in Budgam, the seat National Conference leader and J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah vacated in the 2024 elections after he also won the Ganderbal seat. Aga Syed Muntazi Mehdi, a candidate from former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti's People's Democratic Party (PDP) won the Budgam seat with 21,576 votes.

The National Conference also finished a distant third in the Nagrota bypoll, with party candidate Shamim Begum settling for 10,872 votes, which was 31,478 votes behind the eventual winner, BJP's Devyani Rana. She had 42,350 votes cast in her favour. Jammu & Kashmir National Panthers Party (India)'s Hars Dev Singh finished second with 17,703 votes. The BJP managed to retain the Nagrota Assembly seat in the bypoll which was necessitated by the death of sitting MLA Devender Singh Rana in October 2024.Rana won a by-election by a commanding margin of over 24,600 votes.The results dealt a blow to the National Conference, whose candidate finished a distant third, signalling that the BJP’s tally in the J&K Assembly has climbed back to 29 and its stronghold in the region remains intact.

In the outcome of the bypoll to the Tarn Taran assembly segment in Punjab, the ruling party AAP retained it with its candidate Harmeet Singh Sandhu defeating his nearest rival and SAD nominee Sukhwinder Kaur Randhawa by a margin of 12,091 votes.

The Congress in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday said the bypoll result in Budgam reflected "public resentment" over unfulfilled promises and dissatisfaction with the government's performance while it termed the Nagrota outcome "as expected" as the seat was already with the BJP.