Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], June 26 (ANI): Nasir Aslam Wani, advisor to Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, on Thursday said that holding Assembly by-elections for the Budgam and Nagrota seats is 'not a matter of demand', but a constitutional right, and questioned why the two seats have been left vacant.

Speaking to ANI, 'This is not a matter of demand, it is our right. Our spokesperson also quoted our party president, who said that elections in other states were announced within six months, so why not here? The question is why these two seats were kept vacant. They should be filled. If the government's policy is that everyone should work together, then there shouldn't be such double standards.'

Budgam in Kashmir and Nagrota in Jammu were due for by-elections. The Budgam seat became vacant in November after Chief Minister Omar Abdullah vacated it to retain the Ganderbal seat. The Nagrota seat was left vacant following the death of BJP legislator Devender Singh Rana.

However, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has not announced any dates for bypolls to these two Rajya Sabha seats.

Wani's remarks came against the backdrop of the ECI announcing bypoll results for five seats across four states, Gujarat, Punjab, Kerala, and West Bengal, earlier this week.

In those bypolls, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Trinamool Congress (TMC), and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) managed to retain their respective seats. However, the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) in Kerala, led by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, suffered a setback after losing the Nilambur assembly seat.

The by-elections were held in the Kaliganj assembly constituency of West Bengal, Kadi and Visavadar seats of Gujarat, Nilambur in Kerala, and Ludhiana West in Punjab.

Separately, Wani also spoke about growing ties between Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh. Referring to a recent visit by a 30-member delegation of the Kashmir Travel Agents Association to Kargil, he highlighted efforts to strengthen tourism and cooperation in the region.

'Our relationship with Leh and Ladakh will become stronger. When we worry about promoting tourism in our region, we try to promote tourism in Kargil. This is a big deal. You can guess that we have no vested interest in all this. The primary interest is the development of tourism in the region', he told ANI. (ANI)