Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti is all set to win the bypoll to the Anantnag Assembly constituency after securing an unassailable lead of 11,000 votes.
After the 10 rounds of counting, Mehbooba secured 16,897 votes against her nearest rival and Congress candidate Hilal Ahmad Shah’s 5,529 votes.
National Conference candidate Iftikhar Misger was a distant third, polling 2,702 votes only, District Election officials said.
A formal announcement of Mehbooba’s victory will be announced only after all the votes are counted, the officials said.
This will be Mehbooba’s fourth term in the Assembly.
57-year-old Mehbooba is among eight candidates in the bypoll for Anantnag Assembly seat which was necessitated due to death of incumbent MLA and then chief ministre Mufti Mohammad Sayeed on January 7 this year.
Of the 28,446 votes polled on June 22, more than 27,332 votes have been counted so far, the officials said.
Interestingly, 356 votes have marked NOTA option in the bypoll.
This will be Mehbooba’s fourth term as member of Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly.
She was first elected to the Assembly in 1996 on a Congress ticket from Bijbehara constituency.
She won in 2002 from Pahalgam and again in 2008 from Wachi seat in Shopian district.
PTI
