'It’s time to accept the inevitable...': Omar Abdullah concedes defeat from Baramulla Lok Sabha seat

NEW DELHI: Former chief National Conference (NC) vice president Omar Abdullah on Tuesday conceded defeat from his Baraulla Lok Sabha constituency after trailing his nearest rival and independent candidate Sheikh Abdul Rashid.
Earlier, Omar had expressed optimism about securing victory, despite trailing behind Rashid by 93,998 votes in preliminary trends.
As per the latest data release by the Election Commission, Omar is still trailing by 134705 votes against Rashid.
"I think it’s time to accept the inevitable. Congratulations to Engineer Rashid for his victory in North Kashmir. I don’t believe his victory will hasten his release from prison nor will the people of North Kashmir get the representation they have a right to but the voters have spoken and in a democracy that’s all that matters," Omar posted on X.

Earlier in the day, when queried about his perspective on the exit polls, the NC leader had said, "Exit polls have been wrong in the past as well but right also sometimes. While we are hopeful, we have apprehensions also that all the exit polls cannot be wrong."
"There can be minor differences but all exit polls are saying one thing only. It will be something extraordinary to hope that all of them are wrong. Everything will be clear by 1 or 2pm," he said.