Srinagar, Nov. 15 -- In a setback for the ruling National Conference, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate Aga Syed Muntazir Mehdi defeated NC's Aga Syed Mehmood Al-Mosavi by 4,478 votes to win the Budgam assembly byelection on Friday. Muntazir Mehdi won with 21,576 votes, defeating the National Conference nominee, who polled 17,098 votes. The Budgam bypoll was necessitated after chief minister Omar Abdullah vacated the seat and chose his family bastion of Ganderbal after winning from both constituencies in the assembly elections last year. Congratulating party candidate Muntazir, PDP leader Ilitija Mufti said: "It is our victory, and under the nose of the NC, we snatched their citadel. This is the message from the people of Budgam to the NC to shun arrogance." She said the PDP win reflected the sentiment of people against chief minister Omar Abdullah as the NC had "abandoned" the constituency after the 2024 elections. "The NC never visited Budgam after the October 2024 elections, and now the entire government machinery was here for campaigning," she said. Muntazir had kept up a steady lead throughout the counting. A total of 17 candidates were in the fray, including the BJP's Syed Mohsin, Awami Ittehad Party's Nazir Ahmad Khan, Aam Aadmi Party's Deeba Khan, and Independent candidate Muntazir Mohiuddin. The surprising factor in this constituency was a young Independent candidate Jibran Dar who secured 7,152 votes, around 11% and stood third. Dar had been working in the constituency highlighting local issues from past nine months. A voter turnout of 50.02% was recorded in the November 11 bypoll. The constituency has around 1.26 lakh registered voters....