Srinagar, Oct 21: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah vacated the Budgam constituency and retained the Ganderbal seat, pro-tem speaker Mubarak Gul announced in Jammu and Kashmir Assembly on Monday.
Omar had contested and won both the Budgam and Ganderbal constituencies in the recent assembly elections.
Ganderbal is known as a stronghold of the Abdullah family, with Omar previously served as the MLA from the area during his first term as Chief Minister from 2009 to 2014.
With his decision to keep Ganderbal, the National Conference now holds 41 seats in the 95-member Assembly. However, the party continues to maintain a strong majority with the support of six Congress MLAs, five Independents, one MLA from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), and one from the CPI(M).
The Bharatiya Janata Party with 29 seats, has become the second-largest party in the Assembly.
