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Jammu, November 21 (IANS) Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather administered oath to two newly elected MLAs here on Friday.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Devyani Rana and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) MLA Agha Syed Muntazir Mehdi were sworn in as members of the 90-member Legislative Assembly by the Speaker at 11 am.
In the by-election to Nagrota assembly constituency, BJP’s Devyani Rana defeated her nearest rival, Harsh Dev Singh of J&K National Panthers Party (JKNPP) by a margin of over 21,000 votes.
In the by-election to Budgam assembly constituency, Agha Syed Muntajir Mehdi of PDP defeated Agha Syed Mehmood of the ruling National Conference (NC) by a margin of over 4,400 votes.
The by-election in Nagrota assembly constituency had become necessary after the death of BJP MLA Devendra Singh Rana on October 31, 2024. Rana had won the 2024 assembly elections from Nagrota constituency as a BJP candidate.
BJP had fielded Devyani Rana, daughter of Devender Singh Rana, in the Nagrota by-election.
Budgam assembly constituency became vacant after Chief Minister Omar Abdullah resigned from the seat. He won the 2024 assembly elections from two constituencies – Budgam and Ganderbal.
Omar Abdullah chose to represent Ganderbal in the 90-member Legislative Assembly.
The ruling NC has 41 MLAs, BJP 29, Congress six, PDP four, CPI(M) one, People’s Conference (PC) one, Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) one, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) one and six independents, five of whom have joined the NC.
Congress, with six MLAs, is supporting the Omar Abdullah-led NC government from outside without joining it. The party has decided to continue supporting the NC-led government despite the tussle between the two parties over the recently held elections for Rajya Sabha seats.
Congress had decided not to contest the Rajya Sabha elections from Jammu and Kashmir after the National Conference refused to give it a reserved seat.
Of the four Rajya Sabha seats for which elections were held on October 24, NC won three and BJP one.
–IANS
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