With NC's Omar Abdullah as one of the key candidates in the constituency, the Budgam Assembly constituency has become one of the hot seats in Jammu and Kashmir.

Abdullah, the National Conference (NC) candidate, had support of current NC MP Aga Ruhullah Mehdi for this extremely crucial seat.

Budgam is a constituency in the 90-assembly Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It is situated in the Kashmir Valley and is known for having the largest Shia Muslim population in the region. Located just 11 kilometers from the UT's capital Srinagar,

Presently, Former chief minister Omar Abdullah of the Jammu & Kashmir National Conference is leading from Budgam.

Budgam Assembly constituency is a key battleground in Jammu and Kashmir. In the 2014 elections, Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi of JKN secured victory with 43

The NC vice president had said that his decision to contest from two seats reflects his party's strength, not weakness.

The NC vice president had contested the 2014 elections also from two seats, Sonwar in Srinagar and Beerwah in Budgam district. He had won the Beerwah seat. Abdullah had lost the 2024 Parliamentary polls from the Baramulla Lok Sabha seat in north Kashmir.

On Tuesday, 8 October, National Conference (NC) vice president Omar Abdullah won the Budgam assembly seat in Jammu and Kashmir, defeating the PDP's Aga Syed Muntazir Mehdi by a margin of more than 18,000 votes. Abdullah, who is also leading from the family bastion of Ganderbal, secured 36,010 votes in Budgam, while Mehdi got 17,525 votes.

Omar Abdullah is contesting from Central Kashmir’s Budgam and Ganderbal constituencies, where polls were conducted on September 25.

In the first assembly polls since the Lok Sabha elections, Narendra Modi and the BJP face a rejuvenated and vindicated Opposition in the Haryana assembly polls. Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir is voting after almost a decade and it remains to be seen how the abrogation of Article 370 has impacted the political landscape of the Valley.