Residents in the saffron rich town of Pampore in Jammu and Kashmir are a unhappy lot, as the government's ambitious demolition drive targeting unauthorised constructions has left them with no shops at all.

"They demolished both the authorised and unauthorised structures in this town. We have nothing left now here," Abdul Rashid, whose shop was demolished by the district authorities, said.

Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed's rivals in the government are bent upon converting these recent demolitions in this town into the main electoral issue during the by-poll on February 26.

"Why should we vote? We will boycott the February 26 poll. He has done nothing for us so far. We did not vote during the assembly polls last year," says Mohammad Amin.

On the other hand, Sayeed's supporters believe the ambitious 'beautification campaign' is largely supported by the locals.

"What has our government done? They removed the illegal structures constructed by people on both sides of the Srinagar-Jammu highway. Majority of the people in this town support this drive," says a People's Democratic Party supporter.

The by-election has now assumed significance in light of this new controversy. The by-election would provide the first opportunity to people in this town to endorse or reject the official demolition campaign.

It is for this very reason, pollsters argue, the Mufti's PDP has pumped resources and manpower into the Pampore electoral campaign.

The assembly constituency has all the makings of a battle royale between the ruling party and the badly bruised regional National Conference, whose defeat shocked even the party's worst enemies.

The party still seems to be in a daze, as it has decided to field Mushtaq Ahmad Kuchai, the man who finished third in the last assembly elections in Pampore.

The PDP has fielded Zahoor Ahmad Mir, the son of its slain legislator Abdul Aziz Mir, and are banking on the sympathy wave that is likely to favour Mir junior.

Kuchai was blamed for bringing down the rating of the National Conference in the constituency because of allegations of nepotism, corruption and ignoring the electorate.

The good news for the PDP is that its closest rival of the last elections, the Congress, with whose help the PDP won last time with barely 700 votes, has decided to support the PDP candidate, as they are alliance partners in the present coalition government.

For the PDP, winning Pampore is important numerically too, as it presently has just 15 members in the 87-member state assembly and to needs the Pampore seat to be able to stand up its alliance partners and rivals.

Reports had earlier suggested that Sayeed would stand from Pampore, but they have been laid to rest now after Sayeed decided to fight for a seat in the upper house of the bicameral state legislature.