Jammu: People’s Democratic Party’s Aga Syed Muntazir wins vacated Bugam Assembly seat Omar Abdullah Despite intensive campaigning by the chief minister and his cabinet, ahead of the November 2025 by-elections, he said his first experience in the J&K Assembly was positive and that the House remained a strong institution despite its powers being limited following the abrogation of Article 370 and downgrading on August 5, 2019. jammu and kashmir The state becomes a federal territory.“I hope that the eroded political space in J&K can be restored through this institution and the rights of the people can be restored to some extent. The legitimacy that people have given to Parliament requires that it function in this spirit,” Muntazir told TOI outside Parliament on Friday.“We should not say that the J&K Assembly is deprived of power. No political party or legislator should say that. We should not use depressing rhetoric or claim that nothing can be done through this Assembly. Parliament is a strong institution even in the current circumstances,” he said.“After August 5, 2019, people gave legitimacy to this assembly by participating in the polls in greater numbers than ever before in the past 36 years. Now you cannot tell the same people that this is a disempowered assembly. We have to fight for the political rights of J&K, but at the same time the legitimacy of this assembly should not be denied,” he added.Muntazir, 38, entered parliament for the first time after winning the Bugam seat, defeating National Conference candidate Agha Saeed Mahmoud by 4,478 votes.The defeat in this election is a major setback for the CM who will vacate the Budgam seat after winning in 2024.Muntazir is the son of senior Shiite cleric Agha Sayed Hassan, the former leader of the separatist bloc’s All-Party Liberal Conference. Montazir worked as a grassroots activist before entering electoral politics.Muntazir, who holds a master’s degree in law, said Badgam has been neglected for nearly two decades despite its proximity to Srinagar. Since joining Parliament, he has regularly raised concerns about roads, education, drinking water and health care in his constituencies, where literacy rates remain low. “For the past 20 years, the same party (NC) has represented Badgam. People only get rhetoric, but political rhetoric has a shelf life,” he said. “People voted for change because their dignity and basic needs have been ignored for so long.”He said the chief minister had earlier assured to establish a national law university in Bugan and the promise was made in the House of Representatives. “It has to be respected. The mandate of the J&K Assembly is to deliver on the promises of the House,” he said.
