Why a Kashmir bypoll and a miffed MP are turning out to be a test for the National Conference

Barring a few red flags outside the residence of the National Conference candidate, Aga Syed Mahmood, it is hard to tell that Budgam is in the middle of an election.

Mahmood, a seasoned leader of the party, said he was told he was fighting the bypoll at the last minute. “I had to activate my workers all of a sudden,” said the 69-year-old.

A fresh election in Budgam is being held as Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah, who contested and won the seat in last year’s Assembly election, decided to give it up for Ganderbal, the second seat he had won.

Despite the lack of enthusiasm on the ground, many see the bypoll on November 11 as a test of National Conference’s popularity.

A year after it won a resounding mandate, there appears to be a growing disillusionment with the Omar Abdullah government for failing to deliver on its major promises and its non-confrontational stand towards New Delhi.

The echo of that criticism can be heard clearly in Budgam. The party’s own Member of Parliament, Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi, has refused to campaign for it, even though Budgam is his home terrain. “The party had reached out to me through informal channels,” Ruhullah told Scroll. “I...

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