BJP’s Devyani Rana Secures Sweeping Victory in Nagrota By-Poll, Ruling NC Slips to Third in Key Jammu Seat
Nagrota, Nov 14, KNT: In a decisive and one-sided electoral outcome, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Devyani Rana has swept the Nagrota Assembly by-election, securing 42,350 votes and defeating her nearest rival by a commanding margin of 24,647 votes. The result marks one of the largest victory margins recorded in the region in recent electoral cycles and solidifies the BJP’s political dominance in the Jammu belt.
Rana’s closest competitor, Harsh Dev Singh of the Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party (JKNPP), finished with 17,703 votes. The ruling Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (NC), which currently heads the government, placed a distant third with its candidate Shamim Begum registering 10,872 votes. The NC’s third-place finish in a politically significant constituency is being viewed as a major setback, particularly as the party had intensified its campaign in the seat during the final phase of canvassing.
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The by-poll, held recently, witnessed a multi-cornered contest with candidates from the J&K Apni Party, Aam Aadmi Party, J&K National Panthers Party (Bhim faction), as well as several independents. However, none of them managed to make an electoral impact. In an unusual trend, NOTA (None of the Above) secured 349 votes, polling higher than multiple candidates including Qari Zaheer Abbas Bhatti, Shah Mohd, Mohammad Shafi Shah, Bodh Raj, Gulzar Hussain and Naresh Kumar Chib.
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Election officials said the counting process began at 8 a.m. and proceeded through eleven rounds, with Devyani Rana maintaining a consistent and often widening lead in every phase. By the fifth round, she had already established a strong advantage, and by the eighth round, her victory appeared inevitable.
Political observers attribute the result to a combination of factors, including the BJP’s organisational strength, the candidate’s local outreach, and the fragmentation of votes among smaller parties. The NC’s inability to consolidate anti-BJP votes appears to have contributed to its poor performance.
The Panthers Party, once a formidable force in the Jammu region, managed to place second but still lagged significantly behind the BJP’s vote share. [KNT]
