Jammu and Kashmir CM Mehbooba Mufti
Chandigarh, June 25, 2016:
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti won the Anantnag byelection by defeating her nearest rival of Congress party Hilal Shah, with a margin of about 12,000 votes amid allegations of "rigging", on Saturday. The election was virtually one-sided contest.
A candidate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Mufti secured 17,000 out total 28,000 polled votes while Congress candidate Shah got 5,589 votes.
Iftikhar Hussain Misghar, a candidate of the National Conference' remained on the third position by getting over 2,800 votes in the constituency.
Mehbooba’s victory margin was almost double than that of her father, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, who had won by nearly 6,000 votes in the constituency, in 2014.
All opposition parties including National Conference boycotted counting after allegations that Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) were tampered with and the candidates demanded cancellation of the by-polls.