26.6.16

Mehbooba wins Anantnag bypoll

Jammu-Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti on her family bastion of Anantnag by more votes than her father Mufti Muhammad Sayeed did in the 2014 assembly election. But her by-election win, required to keep her office, was dimmed by the fact that fewer people turned out to vote compared to the last few elections.
Mehbooba trounced her nearest rival, Congress's Hilal Shah, by a margin of 12,085 votes. Sayeed, whose death in January had necessitated the by-election, had defeated Shah in 2014 by 6,000 votes. Mehbooba secured 17,701 votes followed by Shah 5,616.National Conference's Iftikhar Misger (NC) stood a distant third with 2,811 votes. Mehbooba's victory margin is significant amid anger in the Valley over ruling Peoples Democratic Party's alliance with BJP and accusations against her government of promoting the Hindutva agenda.
The success was marred by low turnout of 34%, which was down by 5% compared to 2014 amid a separatist poll boycott call. The NC congratulated Mehbooba, but raised doubts over her victory citing alleged electronic voting machine (EVM) tampering. 

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