Jammu and Kashmir: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah retained the Ganderbal assembly seat and resigned from the Budgam seat, as announced by Pro-Tem Speaker Mubarak Gul in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly on Monday, October 21, 2024.
Abdullah, also the vice president of the National Conference (NC), won both seats in the recently concluded assembly polls, marking the first elections in the region in a decade. He secured Ganderbal by defeating Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate Bashir Ahmad Mir by over 10,000 votes, garnering 32,727 votes to Mir's 22,153.
In Budgam, Abdullah won by a margin of over 18,000 votes. The NC leader previously held the Ganderbal seat in 2008 before becoming chief minister of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.
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The National Conference emerged victorious in the assembly elections, winning 42 seats, while the Congress secured six. Their coalition surpassed the majority mark and will form the government soon in the Union Territory. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 29 seats, and the PDP managed only three. Additionally, seven independent candidates won seats, including Satesh Sharma, who defeated BJP candidate Rajeev Sharma by 6,929 votes in the Chhamb constituency.
Omar Abdullah was sworn in as chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir on August 16, marking his second term in the position and representing the first elected government in the region following the abrogation of Article 370.