National Conference (NC) vice president Omar Abdullah is set to return as Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir with his party's alliance with the Congress looking set to secure a comfortable majority in the Assembly elections. Omar Abdullah, won the Budgam seat in the Assembly elections, defeating PDP's Aga Syed Muntazir Mehdi with a margin of 18,485 votes. While, in Ganderbal, the contest was between Omar and Bashir Ahmed Mir from the People's Democratic Party.
As the results started to roll in, party chief Farooq Abdullah announced that his son, Omar will be the next Chief Minister of Jammu and Kahmir. He also claimed the election results reflected the people’s discontent with the abrogation of Article 370. Senior Abdullah also said the people have given their verdict, showing that the decisions of August 5, 2019, are not acceptable to them’. Expressing gratitude, Abdullah thanked the people for participating freely in the polls and acknowledged the challenges ahead. The former Union minister added that the newly elected government would need to work hard to address the 'sufferings' of the people.
The Union Territory held its first assembly elections in ten years, which is also the first assembly poll after the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019 that granted special status. Voting was held in three phases in the 90 assembly seats: September 18, September 25, and October 1.