The elections in Budgam have ended, leaving behind dust, posters, and a familiar sense of déjà vu.

The rallies that once shook the town's narrow lanes have quieted. Loudspeakers are off, flags are getting down, and the same questions that echoed before voting day now hang heavier in the air: what really changed, and who actually stood for the people?

The contest was fierce. Both the Chief Minister and the former Chief Minister brought their campaigns to Budgam, drawing massive crowds and sharper accusations. National Conference (NC) called the People's Democratic Party (PDP)-BJP alliance the beginning of Jammu and Kashmir's downfall. PDP countered by accusing NC of rewriting history to suit its politics. On stage and in the streets, every speech was framed as a battle between betrayal and redemption.

Now, as the ballot battle has thawed, the mood among voters is mixed. Some see it as a return of an old party that knows the ground. Others see it as another turn in the same circle of promises and power.“We voted for change last time, and for forgiveness this time,” said a shopkeeper in Chadoora.“Maybe next time we'll vote for truth.”

In many ways, this election was a replay of 2024. The NC revived its old narrative: the PDP-BJP alliance as the root of Kashmir's troubles. That message had worked a year ago when the party swept 42 seats. This time, it might work just enough to win, though not to inspire. Voters may have responded, but few were convinced that things would be different.

History still shadowed every speech. Omar Abdullah's call to remember the“betrayal” of 2015 resonated with some, but others recalled the compromises that came long before. Many in Budgam discussed how NC's own founder, Sheikh Abdullah, had signed the Kashmir Accord in 1975, which diluted the region's autonomy decades before the BJP entered the picture. Political writers have long noted that even during Sheikh's imprisonment, he was consulted about constitutional changes to Article 370. The past remains complex, no matter how neatly it is packaged on campaign stages.

The election also reopened memories of Omar Abdullah's own political beginnings, as a Minister in the Vajpayee-led NDA government. For a party that now presents itself as a wall against the BJP, this part of its story sits uneasily with its new narrative. L.K. Advani's memoir even recounts how Farooq Abdullah dropped the autonomy resolution in exchange for Omar's cabinet post. Many in Budgam remembered that too.

The PDP, despite its visible decline, wasn't entirely absent from the conversation. Its leaders defended the 2015 alliance with the BJP as a“political experiment,” meant to build a bridge between Delhi and Srinagar. For most voters, that bridge had long collapsed. The“Agenda of Alliance” became shorthand for a political gamble that never paid off.

Through all this, one name that reappeared in local discussions was Saifuddin Soz, the MP whose single vote toppled the Vajpayee government in 1999, before being expelled by the NC. His story reminded people that taking a stand has a price in Kashmir politics.

The post-election mood in Budgam feels like reflection. People have seen enough alliances made and broken in their name. They have heard words like“betrayal,”“autonomy,” and“restoration” too many times to believe them at face value. Many voters now speak of a growing fatigue, a sense that political slogans no longer carry meaning without accountability.

Elections in Kashmir, for all their energy, often end where they begin: in the same questions of trust and truth. And for Budgam, this one was no different.

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