The National Conference wave appears to have evaporated in just over a year with the party losing the crucial Budgam bypoll on Friday to rival PDP.

The setback appears to have stemmed from chief minister Omar Abdullah’s alleged failure to deliver on key election promises and his perceived unwillingness to take a firm stand against the Centre.

To make matters worse for the NC, the BJP retained Jammu’s Nagrota seat, where the ruling party candidate was pushed to the third spot.

Omar appeared to blame his disgruntled Srinagar MP, Aga Ruhullah, for the Budgam loss and warned that his party would meet to make a decision. The loss, however, intensified the war of words between the two.

The Budgam constituency was represented by Ruhullah multiple times. He has emerged as the most vocal critic of his party, accusing the NC of mellowing its stand on key issues like the restoration of Article 370. Many see it as a clash of egos.

The PDP’s Aga Syed Muntazar Mehdi, son of Hurriyat leader Aga Syed Hassan and also Ruhullah’s cousin, won the seat, defeating the NC’s Aga Syed Mehmood, who is also related to them. This id the first time the NC had lost in Budgam.

The PDP was trounced in last year’s Assembly elections, winning only three seats as the party bore the brunt for joining hands with the BJP in 2015. After Friday’s win, the PDP will now have four MLAs in the 90-member Assembly. The NC’s number has come down to 41, while the BJP’s has gone up to 29.

“Arrogance is the recipe for disaster. Consciousness, humility and introspection is the way,” Ruhullah said on X immediately after his party’s loss, taking a jibe at Omar. Several supporters of Mehdi were seen cheering after the PDP candidate’s win.

The fuming chief minister suggested Ruhullah was the bigger loser.

“In English, there is a proverb — you cut your nose to spite your face. What Ruhullah did to send a message to me or not is one thing, but politically he has committed suicide. The man who won the seat will never allow Ruhullah to rise again. I will rise again but whether Ruhullah will rise again in Budgam or not, Ruhullah alone would decide,” Omar told reporters.

“Leave what happened, whatever the party will have to do now, we will do.”

Omar attributed the loss to sections of people in Budgam who he said don’t vote based on performance but on their lineage to certain persons, an apparent reference to Ruhullah’s supporters. Omar said he would ask party president Farooq Abdullah to organise a working committee meeting.

The PDP won the Budgam seat by a margin of 4,478 votes.

In Jammu’s Nagrota, BJP candidate Devyani Rani won comfortably, defeating her nearest Independent rival Harsh Dev Singh by 24,647 votes.

PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti thanked Budgam residents for the emphatic win and claimed they “have sidelined the government’s 50 MLAs” and given her party a chance.