JAMMU, Nov 11 (KINS): Polling concluded smoothly and successfully today in the 27–Budgam and 77–Nagrota Assembly Constituencies of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
The vacancies in these constituencies arose due to the resignation of Shri Omar Abdullah, who was elected from two Assembly segments, and the demise of Shri Davinder Singh Rana, respectively.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) had announced bye–elections for these two seats along with the General Elections to the Legislative Assembly of Bihar on October 6, 2025. The nomination process commenced on October 13, and the last date for withdrawal was October 24, 2025.
A total of 17 candidates contested from the 27–Budgam Assembly Constituency and 10 candidates from the 77–Nagrota Assembly Constituency. Since each ballot unit accommodates a maximum of 15 candidates plus the NOTA option, two Ballot Units were used per polling station in the Budgam bye-election.
There were 1,26,025 electors in Budgam and 97,980 electors in Nagrota. To facilitate these voters, 173 polling stations were established in Budgam and 150 in Nagrota, all equipped with Assured Minimum Facilities (AMF) and 100% webcasting as per ECI directives.
Additionally, 24 Special Polling Stations were set up for Kashmiri Migrant voters registered in the 27–Budgam constituency—19 in Jammu, 1 in Udhampur, and 4 in Delhi—to enable their physical voting under the special migrant voting scheme.
Polling was held from 7:00 AM to 6:00 PM. As per data received till 7:30 PM, the Budgam Assembly Constituency recorded a voter turnout of 50.01%, while Nagrota recorded 74.82%. At the Special Polling Stations, 157 votes were cast in Jammu, 11 in Udhampur, and 10 in Delhi.
Notably, for the first time, polling data was transmitted directly by Presiding Officers through the specially designed ‘Presiding Officer App’ under the Integrated ECTNet platform of the Election Commission of India, minimizing delays and errors in the compilation of turnout data.
The counting of votes for both constituencies is scheduled to take place on November 14, 2025.
To ensure the smooth conduct of the electoral process, the Election Commission deployed General, Police, and Expenditure Observers in both constituencies, while senior officers of the Commission monitored polling and will also oversee the counting process at Special Polling Stations in Jammu, Udhampur, and Delhi.(KINS)
